SACRAMENTO—Sacramento Police arrested Todd Baker, 34, and Saleem Pittman, 31, on March 9, 2014 for stealing a boat and trailer from a Del Paso Heights residence, after Sacramento police received a call from a neighbor.
Shortly before 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 9, a man alerted the police that a white van had hitched up to his neighbor’s boat and trailer in the 3700 block of Dayton Street in Sacramento and driven off with them. According to a police report, the neighbor knew that the owner of the boat was not home.
The 3700 block of Dayton Street. Is this the boat that was stolen? (Google maps)
Officers searched the area and spotted the van towing the boat and trailer southbound on Del Paso Boulevard. The van was stopped and two men were taken into custody.
Baker was booked on suspicion of conspiracy, possession and theft of the vehicles, violation of probation and possession of a controlled substance for sale. Pittman was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy, possession and theft of the vehicles, violation of probation and driving without a license. Both men were booked into Sacramento County Jail.
Todd Baker is a boat restorer – photo from his Facebook page.
Pittman had a prior arrest in September of 2013 on drug charges. At that time he listed his residence as a home on Dayton Street just a block away from the boat theft scene. Though his residence is now miles away in south Sacramento, it is possible he had a connection with the owner of the boat when he lived just a block away.
Todd Baker works as a manager at a marine maintenance and restoration company in Sacramento. He has on his Facebook page a number of photos of boats he himself either owns or restores, leading to speculation that the stolen boat may have been one he either claims to own, or perhaps sold to the owner but was not paid. Those details will no doubt come out as police review the case with the District Attorney’s office for prosecution.
Baker (in back) with Pittman boating last summer (Facebook)
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Sacramento Bee: Pair arrested in Sacramento boat theft
