NEW YORK (AP) — A man was arrested Thursday for allegedly taking a decommissioned New York City fireboat for an overnight cruise on the Hudson River, before getting stuck, leaving the ship and stealing another vessel, police said.
He was charged with two counts of robbery, officials said. He had not been arraigned as of Thursday afternoon and it was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney.
The man commandeered the fireboat, known as the John J. Harvey, by detaching it from its mooring at Pier 66 on the west side of Manhattan, authorities said. The 130-foot (40-meter) long ship, which now serves as a museum, gained local fame after being used to evacuate 9/11 survivors.
Once aboard the fireboat, the man was able to drift a short distance into the Hudson River, police said, but quickly became trapped. He jumped overboard, plunging into the frigid waters and later emerging on a second stolen boat, police said.
He steered that sailboat toward Pier 51, about 15 blocks south of the original location, police said. The department’s Harbor Unit responded to a call at 2:30 a.m. regarding a stolen boat and arrested the man on the deck of the sailboat.
A spokesperson for the Hudson River Park Trust, which oversees Pier 66, said the fireboat was safe and was being assessed for damage.
Built in 1931, the Harvey participated in several spectacular maritime rescues, helping to extinguish a potentially catastrophic fire aboard the El Estero, a munitions ship docked in New York Harbor during World War II.
It was decommissioned in 1994, but was returned to service on the morning of September 11 to help recover survivors and pump water to the site.
The boat keepers occasionally offer free public cruises along the Hudson River.
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