Thieves Hit Hartwell Marina

The Hart County Sheriff’s office is investigating a number of thefts from docks and boats at the Hartwell Marina.

All of them happened last week within a day or two of each other.  In one case, suspects took three marine batteries from a pontoon boat that was in a slip at the Hartwell Marina.

The suspects also attempted to take two blue bags of fishing lures, but they were recovered later by Sheriff’s deputies in another part of the marina.  Total value of the three marine batteries was about $750.

In another case, Hart County Investigator Sherman Payne said on or about the same day suspects stole a Yamaha Wave runner three-seater and two marine batteries with a total value of $1,300.

Both the Wave runner and the batteries were taken from a dock close to the first theft at the marina, Payne said.

Hart County Sheriff Mike Cleveland said as weather warms up, they begin to see more of these types of crimes from boats, docks, and vacation lake homes.

Cleveland says this time of year thieves know you’re more likely to leave your personal watercraft and other summer items out in plain sight.

“We do have a lot of thefts in the summer months of boats and docks, ” Cleveland said. “If you leave your fishing equipment there, some folks are prone to load them up and take off with it. As a rule you need to keep your property locked up because that’s a whole lot better than in plain sight.”

“People who own boats and personal water craft often leave the keys in the ignition, which, he said, is an open invitation to thieves,” added Payne.

He said so far, they have not made any arrests in either case and the investigations continue.

“We get people crossing the lake in boats from the South Carolina side,” he said. “That can make it difficult to track down who did this.”