Thieves steal $25,000 worth of electronics from criminal defense attorney

FORT MYERS, Fla. – About $25,000 worth of electronics were stolen out of a boat in Fort Myers. The victim, however, is someone who would represent these type of criminal suspects in court.

“Crimes happen, I’m a criminal defense lawyer, I say ‘good people do get arrested.’ Good lawyers do get robbed,” Scott Moorey said.

Among the stolen items included the GPS device and navigation system. He says he checked with his neighbors and none of them appeared to have been hit.

“I think that I was targeted,” Moorey explained. “I don’t know if I was targeted because of who I am or just the boat itself.”

Moorey did not want to give out details of his boat in fear of it being targeted again, but he wants to tell other boat owners about what they can do to not become a victim.

“I think deterrents is the biggest factor in these types of cases and if you can be proactive in putting security cameras up, if you can put up lighting, if you can check your equipment on a daily basis, you’re going to deter that type of activity.”

A boat owner at a marina tells us he hasn’t seen these kinds of thefts, and thinks the marina is a much safer place for your boat than behind your own home.

“That’s an unsecured spot and you leave for three or four days and there it is, sitting there waiting for somebody to get into it, take something,” Russ Orpouliot said.

Moorey, however, is enjoying the irony of this crime.

“I don’t know if they’re going to catch these individuals, if they do I’ll represent them for free,” Moorey said.