"Stolen" from dive shop in Boca Raton, FL

[Trisha Cardillo]

My husband and I dropped our gear off at World of Scuba in Boca right after Labor Day. We had just done a dive in Key Largo with a group of fellow students from FAU, and dropped our BCDs, regulators, and my mask (prescription) off for service. The guy who owned the place first said he was down in the Keys after Irma to deliver supplies, then he sat on it, and sat on it...then his shop was closed and he wasn't returning phone calls! I found him and contacted him, only to be told to call his "attorney," who then sent us back to him to try to get our gear from the owner of the property this person was leasing. We finally connected with the property owner, but our gear is gone, and no one seems to know anything. We had 3 BCDs (a blue Bella, a Latitude, and an equator), 3 Scubapro regulators, gauges with computers (Aladdin Prime, UWATEC)...all of it was in an extra large, heavy duty canvas Akona rolling bag. I've checked E-bay and Craigslist; nothing there. The bag is rather unique - much larger than the current duffles that Akona makes. Because the shop owner is pursuing a bankruptcy (he didn't pay his lease for months, and apparently also did not pay his boat captain or his crews), the police are wanting us to pursue this through civil courts. If anyone has any information that leads to the return of our gear, we're offering a reward. Trisha Cardillo 404-644-3865, tcardillo1@gmail.com

 

[seaseadee]

Trisha keep an eye on both Facebook marketplace and Letgo.

 

[richmonddiver]

In a lot of states, you can always go straight to the magistrate and press charges. Even if the owner is in bankruptcy, I doubt he has the right to keep your gear. I doubt the property owner does, either. It's your property. It sounds like there is a lot of money involved. You can pay an attorney for a consultation. When I worked for a lawyer in Atlanta 15 or so years ago, I think the hourly cost was $200. A phone call or certified letter from an attorney, who can explain the law to the different parties, can solve a lot of issues.

 

[pinshootr]

should be covered thru your home owners policy?

 

[Trisha Cardillo]

The gear value was over $5,000. I'm working on the insurance claim now and will be filing suit against him in small claims court (although filing fees alone cost $300+ in Florida for the amount of our loss). With our deductible and depreciation, we'll be lucky to recover half the value, but the insurance company can file for subrogation. According to the dive shop "owner" (who was leasing the space), the gear was taken from his shop. He has lied several times, so it's tough to know what really happened. The business next door confirmed that another diver did break in to the shop in November after being told the dive shop owner couldn't access the shop to give people back their gear (one of his lies) and took his own gear back, but left the door intentionally propped open. There are no cameras, so no way to know if someone else took the gear, or the dive shop owner, or...? The actual owner of the warehous property let us in last weekend to search for our gear; nice enough guy, swears he didn't take anything as collateral, and neither did the boat captain.

I'll keep an eye on Facebook and Letgo. Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. Most of the gear can be replaced eventually, but the loss of the dive computers is huge - data, dive logs. We'll never be able to reproduce that and confirm our dive experiences.

 

[Trisha Cardillo]

Trisha keep an eye on both Facebook marketplace and Letgo.

Very helpful - a BCD just like mine was posted on Facebook marketplace in Fort Lauderdale 3 days ago...

 

[Rred]

Also Craigslist, of course.
Since the value was over $5000, this may qualify as a felony and a federal offense, you'd have to ask about that. I'm not sure what Florida law is, but generally this is not a "theft" it is an "illegal conversion" or "bailment", meaning, they received your property legally, but what they did after that was not legal.

Of course without serial numbers, purchase receipts, or your names on the gear, proving things becomes harder, so by all means ask the cops, ask the DA's office, ask a lawyer, and please share the name of the shop that went out of business. If you CAN find a way to file any type of criminal charges against the guy, that may motivate him more than just civil bankruptcy.

Since no one was killed and it is holiday time, you may need to get creative and insistent to get anyone to actually FILE charges and follow through on them. Don't be afraid to do that.

 

[Trisha Cardillo]

Also Craigslist, of course.
Since the value was over $5000, this may qualify as a felony and a federal offense, you'd have to ask about that. I'm not sure what Florida law is, but generally this is not a "theft" it is an "illegal conversion" or "bailment", meaning, they received your property legally, but what they did after that was not legal.

Of course without serial numbers, purchase receipts, or your names on the gear, proving things becomes harder, so by all means ask the cops, ask the DA's office, ask a lawyer, and please share the name of the shop that went out of business. If you CAN find a way to file any type of criminal charges against the guy, that may motivate him more than just civil bankruptcy.

Since no one was killed and it is holiday time, you may need to get creative and insistent to get anyone to actually FILE charges and follow through on them. Don't be afraid to do that.

We filed a police report, but they are saying since he has filed bankruptcy, they can't treat it as a criminal charge. I think that's BS. It was World of Scuba in Boca Raton. The guy had been fired from Force E.

We have serial numbers and original receipts for all of the gear. We've already filed the insurance claim, but with deductible and depreciation, we'll be luck to get half of what we paid.

 

[Rred]

I've never had reason to enquire into it (although I did once have to literally retrieve something from a business that had declared) but I'd be surprised if bankruptcy "discharged" a bailment. Bankruptcy may discharge debts--but it shouldn't affect the question of who OWNS property that never belonged to the "bankrupt-ee".

These are the reasons that cops are not judges or lawyers. It might pay to get another opinion from someone who knows a little more about the law than "red light green light". Florida's gold coast cops do not enjoy a national reputation as being the finest in the land. (Which is not to insult the many who really do try harder.)

 

[gcarter]

DAN insurance? Would it cover this type / method of equipment loss?