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Burglary Led To Boat Chase Across Lake

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By LISA A. DAVIS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 2, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - It wasn't the typical getaway car. And it sure wasn't a high-speed chase. But this is one incident that went off with a splash.

It was a Friday evening in December, and Charles "Tinker" Pearson was grilling rib-eye steaks on his back porch when he heard a splash on King Lake.

He flipped his steaks and walked closer to the water and saw a man trying to get into a kayak. He yelled out to the guy a couple of times.

"Man, are you all right out there?"

No answer.

Pearson noticed the motor missing from his boat. He spotted it inside the kayak.

"I said, 'Man, you've got my motor,'" Pearson recalled. "I said - well, I used a few cuss words - I said, 'Bring my motor back!'"

That's when he hopped into his johnboat and started paddling toward the kayak and his Nissan 3.5-horsepower outboard motor, according to a Pasco County Sheriff's Office report.

The thief, now inside the kayak, lost control and flipped his boat. He got back inside and struggled with it again and started paddling hard but flipped again. Pearson was gaining on him about midway across the lake. The man made a swim for it.

Pearson gave up the chase and brought the kayak to his backyard at 4848 Kings Lake Drive. He yelled to the perpetrator he now had his stuff.

Rain started pouring, and the wind kicked up. The boat motor and his lawn mower motor, he learned, were still inside the kayak, as was a clue to the would-be thief's identity.

Pearson found a Samsung cell phone and told the swimmer he had his cell phone, too.

Moments after Pearson paddled ashore, Deputy Fahad Kharbey arrived.

He tried to turn on the cell phone, according to the report, but it didn't work because it had been sitting in water. Kharbey called Verizon and was told that the phone's owner hadn't reported it lost and stolen. Verizon, according to the report, also told him the owner's name: Clinton Rossbach.

Pearson got his property back and then the deputy looked for Rossbach, who turned himself in on Thursday.

Rossbach, 23, of 14801 Garson Loop, Shady Hills, was arrested on a charge of burglary conveyance. He was released from the Land O' Lakes Jail on Friday after posting $5,000 bail.

He couldn't be reached for comment Friday.

According to his arrest affidavit Rossbach had bragged about the incident in a text message from his other phone. Rossbach told a detective about his involvement in the kayak incident, according to the affidavit. He reportedly told a detective he had been drinking alcohol that night and used "poor judgment."

As for the steaks, Pearson said: "They got burned up."

Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083 or ldavis@tampatrib.com.

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