Boat owners celebrated the arrest of a man accused of trying to steal a boat docked on the Miami River — plus 12 other charges, mostly for stealing and looting cars and trucks of cash, credit cards and a pistol.

The case is an important success for South Florida Marina and Boat Watch, a Facebook group started in July by Miami lawyer Bruce Marx after a $5,100 GPS unit was stolen from his newly rerigged 33-foot Contender.

During Labor Day weekend, a man who strongly resembles Miguel A. Rodriguez, 25, was caught on good-quality security video, tampering with Julio Pino’s boat at its dock on the Miami River.
The video is a study of boat theft failure.

“He attempted to hotwire it, took off all the ignition mechanisms, trying to connect all the wires, trying to get the engine started,” Pino told NBC6 in Miami. He estimated $5,000 worth of damage.

By then, the watch group had grown to more than 9,000 members, not yet including Pino. He posted his video and some screen grabs on his own page.

“I put them up on Facebook and a friend of mine notified me about the boat watch group,”

Pino told NBC6 in Miami. “I uploaded it to them and I immediately started getting responses. Within a day, people were calling me on my cellphone and giving me the guy's name and where he lives.”
He didn’t say who tattled. You probably don’t know anyone who would know someone like Miguel Rodriguez, but Pino does. He’s a bail bondsman.

It turned out that Hialeah police were after Rodriguez already, for a bunch of vehicle burglaries and thefts and other offenses. They picked him up on Sept. 6 and booked him on 13 separate charges, some apparently involving other boats docked near Pino’s.

For stealing a gun from one of those, he was charged with armed burglary.

Bruce Marx said South Florida Marina and Boat Watch Group’s membership was 10,100 by Sept. 20. As Pino did, members post surveillance videos and still photos showing thefts of engine propellers, electronics and entire boats — some on the water, some on trailers. Police agencies monitor it too.

At this writing, Rodrguez had been in jail for two weeks, apparently unable to post bail, and he hadn’t asked Pino for help. He shouldn’t bother.

“This one I won’t bond out,” Pino said.