Boy Scouts discover six canoes were stolen, not borrowed

By MICHAEL A. MOHAMMED
Published July 21, 2007

TAMPA - Sam Corson remembers, as an 11-year-old, paddling in the big aluminum canoes with other Boy Scouts from Troop 4.

"Because they were kind of heavy," said Corson, now 39, "they're really good for kids. You really had to work hard to tip those canoes over.

Last week someone stole Troop 4's six boats from its headquarters behind the First Christian Church at 350 S Hyde Park Ave., police said.

Countless Scouts, including Corson's son, have paddled the boats since Corson's Scouting days. The troop planned to take them on two trips over the next few months.

Brian Fitzgerald first noticed the boats missing July 14. Dirty, sweaty and tired, he had just returned from a weeklong hike in North Carolina with his son and seven other Troop 4 Scouts.

The gate was chained and locked, so he assumed another local troop had borrowed them. Troop 4 loans the boats two or three times a year, he said.

But two days later, the morning of July 16, "something didn't feel right," Fitzgerald said, so he stopped at the church on his way to work. He tugged on the chain and it fell apart, revealing that one of the links had been cut, then replaced to conceal the breach.

"I realized immediately that they'd been stolen," Fitzgerald said. "I was sick to my stomach."

The theft angered Sgt. Jim Contento of the Tampa police property crimes division.

"Basically, some good kids have been victimized," he said. He's sent word to law enforcement as far away as Alachua County and detectives are visiting Tampa's scrap yards.

The trailer, boats, paddles and life jackets are worth about $10,000, Contento said. Sold as scrap, six aluminum boats might fetch a few hundred dollars.

Corson also noticed that an air conditioner core had disappeared along with the boats. Thieves often steal the cores, because the copper tubing in them fetches a high price.

Contento said he still has hope. The canoe-laden trailer would be hard to sell and easy to spot.

Meanwhile, the Scouts won't give up their cherished trips on the Peace River, said Mike Gruendel, whose tenure as Troop 4's Scoutmaster ended last year. They are planning fundraisers to buy new canoes, he said.

"I think some of them have to learn that sometimes bad things happen, and you have to make something positive out of it," Gruendel said.

Michael A. Mohammed can be reached at mmohammed@sptimes.com or 813 226-3404.

Fast Facts:

If you have a tip

Police are asking anyone with information about the theft to call Detective Rick Moody at (813) 354-6645.

[Last modified July 20, 2007, 23:45:34]