Hobe Sound, Florida – On May 5th, deputies from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office pursued a stolen luxury yacht through the Intracoastal Waterway.

The first part of the video shows deputies boarding speedboats and heading off to locate the vessel. The second part shows the yacht surrounded by multiple Martin County Sheriff’s Office boats.

The yacht, a 66-foot luxury vessel, was stolen earlier in the evening from Blowing Rocks Marina in Tequesta. The suspect, identified as Nikolai Vilka, a Russian national, attempted to escape through the waterway.

Martin County’s ground units, marine units, SWAT team members, criminal investigations detectives, and MCSO Air One all took part in the operation.

The yacht was quickly located and blocked in by sheriff’s boats, leaving it with nowhere to go.

Vilka reportedly does not speak English. The Department of Homeland Security is assisting with the investigation and is bringing in a Russian interpreter to help with communication.

The coordinated response followed a report from the marina dockmaster, leading to a rapid deployment of sheriff resources to recover the stolen vessel.

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