Man accused of stealing Sea Tow boat near Marco Island arrested

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla.—The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Naples Police Department arrested a man accused of stealing a Sea Tow.

On Friday, law enforcement responded to a vessel incident that occurred in Collier County.

Early information from the FWC stated that a Sea Tow captain responded to a vessel fire near Marco Island. The captain rescued Ryan Dieter and brought him aboard his tow boat.

FWC then says an altercation occurred between Dieter and the Sea Tow captain, leading to the captain being ejected into the waters. Dieter then allegedly stole and fled the scene with the Sea Tow vessel, abandoning the captain in the Marco Island waters.

After responding to the vessel incident report, FWC located and rescued the stranded captain and issued a multi-county search for Dieter.

He was eventually located separately from the stolen vessel and taken into custody.

WINK News contacted the Naples Police Department for more information regarding this theft. Their response was:

“A county-wide marine emergency call was received by our agency at approximately 6 p.m. yesterday evening. We did have an officer respond to the area, but our agency had minimal interaction with the event. From the call for service notes, it looks like the incident was handled largely by Collier County SO and/or FWC.”

Dieter remains in the Collier County Jail.