Caught on camera: Punta Gorda man defecates on dock after burglarizing boat

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — A Punta Gorda man is in the Charlotte County Jail after officials say he stole items from a 48-foot boat and then defecated on it.

The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office said it happened on September 17 at the Laishley Park Marina in Punta Gorda.

Chris Pifer, the owner of the boat, said he woke up Sunday morning at about 5:20 a.m. when he checked a surveillance video of someone on his boat. Officials say 75-year-old Michael Paul Wierzbicki tried to steal items off the boat. 

“I noticed on the camera that he tried to steal my outboard dolly, which is located up on the dock at south center on the ground here… that kind of piqued my interest and I proceeded to watch him go back and forth in and out of camera view down I will presume towards other vessels,” said Pifer.

Then, the sheriff’s office said Wierzbicki defecated on the dock near his boat.

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“He proceeded to walk over to the edge of the dock, just in front of my boarding ramp and decided to take a number two on the sidewalk,” said Pifer. “After pulling up his pants and readjusting his drawstring, he decided to enter my vessel.”

The sheriff’s Office said when deputies got to the marina, they found Wierzbicki sitting on a bench.

“He wanted to leave but we kind of convinced him to hang out to just relax and shoot the breeze with us. A few moments later, the police arrived and they were able to apprehend him,” said Pifer.

Wierzbicki was arrested. He is charged with burglary.

Pifer said this isn’t the first time someone has attempted to steal something from onboard. Just two days before, Wierzbicki left an unwanted surprise on the boat. Pifer said another person tried breaking into an electronic box to steal it.

“On Friday morning early we had another visitor, a younger gentleman, probably about from 19 to 24 years of age that scaled up the aluminum structure work and tried to attempt to break into the electronics box on the bridge,” said Pifer.

“Fortunately, here you know he fled before anybody can find them here and it was well past the time he had been here, so at that point, me coming to the vessel to try and find it was pointless,” he said. 

Pifer said that after the two incidents, he’s installing even more cameras to catch any future intruders.

“We’ve had a couple of occurrences here at the marina. Previously last year we had a vessel boarded a few boats down from me, and a lot of fishing gear was stolen,” he said.

Pifer said he filed a report about the first intruder with the Punta Gorda Police Department. The police department said they didn’t have information readily available.