MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A 37-year-old business owner was arrested Tuesday, months after he allegedly stole a client’s boat and then fled the scene of a crash while operating the boat, authorities said.
According to Miami-Dade police, Michael John Mora, of Hollywood Beach, was the owner of the now shuttered Hulk Performance LLC, located at 850 SW 69th Ave.
Recommended Videos
Police said the business was closed after Mora was evicted for failing to pay rent.
According to his arrest report, the victim took his 2009 Sea-Doo and a 2021 Karavan trailer there for repairs on April 20, 2021, but then Mora stopped returning his calls about when his boat would be ready.
Police said the victim was then notified on Dec. 11, 2021 by a Florida Fish and Wildlife investigator that his boat had been involved in a hit-and-run collision.
The victim identified Mora as the operator of the boat and once again tried to contact him to retrieve it, authorities said.
Police said detectives responded to Mora’s business and found that it was vacant and there were boats left behind that had been stripped and abandoned.
According to the arrest report, detectives repeatedly tried to contact Mora to inspect the boat and issue him a citation before they were advised by his attorney that Mora would accept the citation, but did not want to provide the boat to authorities.
Police said detectives advised Mora’s attorney that failure to allow them to inspect the boat and depriving the victim of his property would be classified as grand theft and tampering with physical evidence.
Mora’s attorney said he was aware, but Mora refused to provide the whereabouts of the boat, the arrest report stated.
Authorities said they later discovered that Mora had conducted multiple similar profitable transactions with other victims who were deprived of their property.
He currently faces two counts of third-degree grand theft.