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Gasparilla Boat Chase Leads To Theft, Assault Charges

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TBO.com

Published: January 30, 2008

TAMPA - A criminal complaint has been filed in federal court against a Lutz man accused of ramming a stolen boat into a Coast Guard vessel and trying to hit a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office vessel Saturday as Gasparilla festivities were winding down.

No one was injured.

Deputies arrested Mark Koert, 27, about 9:15 p.m. Saturday on charges of grand theft of $100,000 or more, fleeing to elude, reckless or careless operation of a vessel and two counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. He was released from Orient Road Jail on Sunday after posting $38,000 bail.

On Tuesday, an agent of the Coast Guard Investigative Service filed a complaint accusing Koert of violating federal law by forcibly assaulting a federal law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon, failing to obey an order from a federal officer and willfully damaging property of the U.S. government.

While patrolling near Davis Islands about 7:20 p.m. Saturday, deputies tried to stop a 27-foot 2006 Maxum boat, an arrest report states. The $117,000 Maxum didn't have its running lights on and was traveling faster than the designated no-wake speed. When a deputy tried to stop the boat, Koert continued south toward Tampa Bay, the report states.

The boat was reported stolen while the pursuit was under way. The boat had been moored near the Tampa Convention Center when it was taken, according to the arrest affidavit.

The boat narrowly missed two vessels before trying to ram the sheriff's office boat, according to the report. Koert tried to strike that boat more than a dozen times during the pursuit, the affidavit states.

According to the sheriff's office, the Maxum twice rammed a 25-foot Coast Guard vessel that was assisting. The Maxum stopped near the Platt Street Bridge, where it was unable to maneuver through shallow water.

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