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Man Back In Jail In Gasparilla Stolen Boat Chase Case

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By MIKE WELLS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 31, 2008

TAMPA - A federal judge jailed a Lutz man Wednesday without setting bail after a prosecutor expressed concern that he presents a danger to the community.

The ruling comes after a criminal complaint filed Tuesday by the Coast Guard against Mark Koert, 27, accused of ramming a stolen boat into a Coast Guard vessel and trying to hit a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office boat Saturday as Gasparilla festivities were winding down.

No one was injured.

Deputies arrested Koert that night 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 and was rearrested Wednesday.

At Wednesday's hearing, Florida Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Perry told Federal Magistrate Thomas Wilson that Koert told investigators he could not remember the incident because he suffered a blackout.

The defendant's mother told investigators her son suffered bouts of memory loss during college and he "continues to like to party," Perry said.

The government's concern is that Saturday's bizarre episode "may not be a one-time circumstance," Perry said.

"Clearly he'd been drinking," Perry said, but "not to the extent it would have caused this incident."

Defense attorney Ralph Fernandez told the court that when Koert was 18, doctors removed a tumor from his pituitary gland and there could be "ancillary consequences."

In ordering the defendant held, Wilson granted Koert more time for his attorney to prepare evidence that the defendant does not present a danger to the community.

This could include psychological testing, Wilson said.

Officials gave the following account of Saturday's chase:

While patrolling near Davis Islands, 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, it 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.

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.

If convicted of the federal complaint, Koert faces about five years in prison, Perry said.

Reporters Josh Poltilove and George Wilkens contributed to this report. Reporter Mike Wells can be reached at mwells@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7839.

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