Pacifica: Police arrest three on beach near where 82-foot stolen yacht ran aground
By Joshua Melvin
PACIFICA — Three people were arrested Monday after running aground in a stolen yacht strewn with empty beer bottles and pizza boxes, but not before a brief standoff with police in front of a boisterous crowd.
The 82-foot Darling disappeared from the Sausalito Yacht Harbor around 1:30 a.m. Monday and was spotted stuck in the sand just off Linda Mar beach shortly before 5:15 a.m. About 6½ hours later, a San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office rescue team shuttled two men and one woman to shore, where Pacifica police and handcuffs awaited.
A small cheer went up from the crowd of about 150 people when the woman, the last to go, was tossed aboard a watercraft by rescuers.
“Do it! Do it! Do it! Jump!” one woman chanted and laughed.
The suspects — Leslie Gardner, 63 of Gillette, Wy.; Dario Mira, 54; and Lisa Modawell, 55, of Aptos — were to be booked into San Mateo County jail on suspicion of grand theft and conspiracy, Pacifica police Capt. Joe Spanheimer said.