ELEUTHERA

'BAREFOOT BANDIT CAPTURED IN HARBOUR ISLAND

Eleuthera receives a bit of world-wide attention!

(Looking at the stats of this website, www.eleuthera.com, I wondered why they went sky-high for a few days. Then, I realized because of the following store: ed)

Colton Harris-Moore, the 19-year-old "Barefoot Bandit" who allegedly stole cars, boats and airplanes to dodge U.S. law enforcement, was captured Sunday in the Bahamas as he tried to make a water escape and was brought handcuffed — and shoeless — to face justice, abruptly ending his two-year life on the lam.

When Colton Harris-Moore appears at his arraignment in the Bahamas this week, he will enter a plea in a courthouse accustomed to an international spotlight.

"The last big thing the country had was the John Travolta matter; before that it was Anna Nicole [Smith]. This falls somewhere in between," said Mario McCartney, a Nassau criminal-defense lawyer.

The 19-year-old "Barefoot Bandit," on the lam since fleeing a Renton halfway house in 2008, was arrested about 2 a.m. on Harbour Island after a brief, high-speed boat chase.

"It was like something you might see in the movies," said Ellison Greenslade, commissioner of the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

The capture unfolded at Romora Bay Resort and Marina. Resort manager Anne Ward said she was socializing with friends when she received a text message: "It was saying the 'Barefoot Bandit' is at your marina," Ward recalled.

She said she contacted Kenneth Strachan, the marina's security director, who was guarding the 40-slip facility.

"Kenny told me that, yes, yes, he had noted a young man come to the marina in a little getaway skiff, a 15-foot boat, and jump on the dock. He had khaki pants, a T-shirt, no shoes, a knapsack and a 9-mm [gun] on him," Ward said.

Ward said the youth told the guard, "They're after me, they're after me. They're going to kill me."

At that point, police were on the trail of Harris-Moore on the island of Eleuthera after recovering a 44-foot power boat stolen from a marina on Great Abaco Island, about 40 miles away. Ward said Harris-Moore took off running down the dock, with the security guard, in his 50s, chasing him.

Harris-Moore ran off the dock and up a hillside staircase leading to some homes, Ward said. Police on the island — there are about half a dozen — as well as the security guard and Ward, dispersed through the area to look for Harris-Moore.

By then, marina staff had cut ignition wires in the skiff in which the youth had arrived, just in case he returned.

He did.

Not able to start the skiff, Ward said, Harris-Moore jumped into a 30-foot boat "and somehow managed to get it started. He didn't get too far off. It was low tide, and he grounded it."

Police, meanwhile, along with the security guard, had jumped into two other boats at the marina and chased him.

Ward said they pulled up alongside Harris-Moore, who was trying to get the boat moving. Police officers shot the boat's engines.

Knowing the chase was over, she said, the youth then put the gun to his head.

"They talked him out of it," Ward said.

She said the youth threw the knapsack, containing a laptop and an iPhone, into the water. It was later found by police.

Greenslade, the Royal Bahamas Police Force chief, confirmed that police seized a firearm and other items from Harris-Moore during the arrest. Greenslade said the suspect was seen by a local doctor shortly after his arrest and he "appears to be in very good health."

Harris-Moore was flown to Nassau, the Bahamian capital, on New Providence Island, and led off the plane — barefoot — in ankle shackles, handcuffs and a bulletproof vest. Dressed in a gray T-shirt and camouflage shorts, he hung his head low and never looked up to acknowledge the crowd gathered on the tarmac. He didn't respond when a man yelled, "Hey, Colton, how are you doing, buddy?"

At the local jail, Harris-Moore made a collect call to his aunt in Washington state and asked for a number for his mother, Pam Kohler, of Camano Island.

Since the youth went on the lam, Kohler said, "I've like changed my phone number about four times." She said Sunday that she hadn't heard from her son since his arrest.

If he calls, she said, she'll pass on to him the phone numbers for John Henry Browne, a high-profile Seattle criminal-defense attorney whom she has retained to represent her son.

Browne said he believed Harris-Moore was "going through a rude awakening. ... Maybe he thought it was kind of a lark, and now he's handcuffed in a bulletproof vest."

Bahamian authorities said Harris-Moore will be arraigned this week, but they have not detailed potential charges.

He's suspected of crash-landing a stolen plane a week ago on nearby Great Abaco Island, where he was blamed for at least seven break-ins. Police picked up his trail on Eleuthera Island after recovering the 44-foot power boat stolen on Great Abaco. He also is accused of several burglaries on Eleuthera.