HIALEAH, Fla. – A Hialeah man’s attempt to pull a stolen Jet Ski switcheroo was thwarted by investigators Tuesday, according to Miami-Dade police.
An arrest report states that authorities discovered a black and green Yamaha personal watercraft dumped near the intersection of Southwest 140th Avenue and 200th Street in the rural Redland area on Dec. 4.
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The Jet Ski was stripped of its exterior hull identification numbers, police said, but authorities were able identify it as “FL 5371 RP” and traced it back to Eddy Albelo Pelegrin.
Police then went to Albelo Pelegrin’s home on East Ninth Court Tuesday and found a blue Yamaha Jet Ski with a familiar registration number: “FL 5371 RP.”
The arrest report states that Albelo Pelegrin’s father, who the 34-year-old lives with, was at the house and let police take a look at the watercraft, finding out its true registration number — which wasn’t “FL 5371 RP” — and that it had been reported stolen in Lee County.
Police said they spoke to Albelo Pelegrin, who claimed that he only owned one Jet Ski, had never painted or borrowed the Jet Ski and that it had been purchased in 2020, denying any involvement in the theft of the newer, higher-quality model.
Another arrest report states that the suspect clammed up after investigators confronted him with a photo of the illegally-dumped watercraft.
Albelo Pelegrin was arrested on charges of third-degree grand theft; buying, receiving or possessing a vessel with an altered identification; felony littering; and two counts of misdemeanor altering or defacing a hull identification.
The Cuban national was no longer listed in Miami-Dade jail records as of Wednesday afternoon.