Official: Bahamas police catch 'Barefoot Bandit'

There are lots of people on ATS constantly complaining about the "sheeple".
- this kid is about as far away from a sheeple as you can get. I admire that.

Lots of people here complain and complain about the PTB.
- this kid sticks it to the PTB and steals their planes and boats. Ha Ha. It's real hard for me to shed a tear on that note; rather makes me laugh.

This kid has a lot more going for him than 99.9% of the rest of the population. He is NOT channeling it constructively. Agreed, except maybe the sticking it to the rich bit, but one day, when he does mature, and/or gets some good guidance, he could be a powerhouse.

Unfortunately America likes to pound down the heads of free thinkers and free spirits. It doesn't like people who don't conform.

I don't hold out much hope for him in this world because he is just too much not a sheeple. I hope he survives because we all have a lot to gain from people like this.

reply to post by wayno


Utter bs.

This kid didn't stick it to "the man".

Show me your list of the TPTB, and then show me how he stole anything from any of those people.

He stole from most likely hard working people, who worked hard to get their car, or their boat, or their plane, only to have it stolen by a coward afraid to face the consequences of his own actions.

Yeah, he really stuck it to the Bilderburgers by stealing some random guy's car.

He's standing up for all of our rights by breaking into peoples houses, then running from his consequences.

Yeah man, real folk hero this guy. Your regular robbing hood.

Originally posted by toolstarr
This guy was like a folk hero... I am somewhat saddened his capture. He did not hurt anyone. he learned how to fly a plane from a book. This guys a riot- he drew chalk footprints when he broke in to places.
I can't wait to watch the movie.

Well his life is not over yet. They will send him in jail where he can learn more.

More updates have came in about this story, the yahoo news recent story and the CNN story seem to have a mix up of the details. I will post the CNN details about how Colton was caught.

After eluding authorities for years from Washington state to Indiana, a notorious teenage fugitive called the "barefoot bandit" was arrested Sunday following a high-speed boat chase in the Bahamas, police said.

Police said 19-year-old Colton Harris-Moore was taken into custody without incident following the chase in the waters off Harbour Island. Authorities responded to a reported sighting of Harris-Moore just after 2 a.m ET Sunday, said police commissioner Ellison Greenslade.

However, an account of the arrest offered by a spokeswoman for Romora Bay Resort and Marina described a dramatic capture befitting a James Bond film.

The marina's security director, Kenneth Strachan, saw a barefoot young man about 2 a.m. Sunday carrying a gun with a knapsack over his shoulder running up the dock. "They're going to kill me," the man told Strachan, according to a statement issued by the resort.

The man had arrived on Harbour Island from the nearby island of Eleuthera in a 15-foot skiff, said resort manager Anne Ward in the statement. Strachan put out a call for help, telling Ward to come as soon as possible.

Upon her arrival, Ward told guards to disable the skiff's engine as the man ran through the resort property, attempting to steal a boat from a nearby house as a crowd gathered at the marina, the statement said.

However, Ward said he ran aground in the second boat, as he didn't realize how shallow the water was. Police and marina authorities surrounded his boat, and police shot out its engines, she said in the statement.

"At one point, the boy threw his computer in the water and put a gun to his head. He was going to kill himself. Police talked him out of it." Authorities loaded the suspect into the resort's work truck and took him to the Harbour Island police station, she said.

Harris-Moore was being transported to Nassau, Bahamas, on Sunday, authorities said. Greenslade said police seized a gun and other items from him.

www.cnn.com...

The CNN link has a pretty good write up on Colton and his multi state crime spree.

His intelligence is impressive, however, I do believe he does need to go to jail for a few years, as he did steal, break in and in short committ crimes for all of those years, to include the taking of property that was not his, and there is the point of where he could have injured people in his stunts. Do you think he would have had a following if in one of the plane crashes, he killed a child or a grandmother? Do you think, and one of the victims of his crimes, whose insurance got raised cause of the damage this kid did to his store, look at him as being a folk hero? He did nothing for his fellow man, did nothing to help out people just did things for his own benifitt. And what about the person who he threatened with the potential of killing, think that person is so forgiving? No, he is a criminial, has been begged by his own mother to turn himself in, and did it just cause he did not believe in the consequences of his actions, and now he is caught. I do believe he is going to prison for years, first the bahama's and may be extridited back to the US, where there is a list of local, state and federal charges that he will be hit with. His stupidity pretty much will guarantee that he will not get bail and will remain in the custody of the cops until his trial and then through out any and all appeals.
I am however, wondering what kind of deal they may make with him.

He needs to line up a lucrative book and movie deal. Sounds like he is quite the outdoorsman, seems like he could get a job as a nature guide. If he does well enough on the book and movie deals he can take flying lessons, buy a plane, and enjoy his hobbies without having to steal from others.

Originally posted by Fryaga
reply to post by InvisibleObserver

 

Aw.

Well, 2 years is still better than no years - I don't condone his actions, but at the same time, in the spirit of living life and everything else be damned...he had a good run of it.

I wonder how long it will be before the movie trailers start showing up.

- Fry

I was wondering how long it will take for him to be someones girlfriend in jail. That's what wrong with people in this country, They think breaking the law is nothing but a game. I'm glad he's going to jail.

Originally posted by SSimon

Originally posted by toolstarr
This guy was like a folk hero... I am somewhat saddened his capture. He did not hurt anyone. he learned how to fly a plane from a book. This guys a riot- he drew chalk footprints when he broke in to places.
I can't wait to watch the movie.

Well his life is not over yet. They will send him in jail where he can learn more.

Like what? How to commit murder or make & sell drugs? GeeWizz what a hero.

Yeah, I saw this on the news today and in a strange way I am kind of disappointed that he was caught.

He was so amazing at surviving, getting away, escaping... It was straight out of a movie. I mean, the kid made escapes involving planes and boats....

Is it bad that I am hoping to hear that he escaped from jail and is free again?

Now don't get me wrong. This guy is a criminal and belongs behind bars, but the whole thing is just a crazy, incredible story, and in a way I am sad to see it end.

[edit on 12-7-2010 by gimme_some_truth]

This guy is from my town so needless to say I've followed the story very closely and have mixed feelings on the matter..

His childhood was broken, probably got the @#$% beat out of him as a child as well as in school which will come out in some sob story during one of his many trials to come.

Still, he is a criminal. I don't know about you but if I spent half my lifetime paying for a private plane, I would be a little less than enthused to find it missing in the morning.

The kid clearly scores on the genius level...too bad he didn't use it to his advantage.

I can't elevate this kid to hero status, like many have already said, he is a criminal. But it's just amazing that he was able to elude capture for 2 years! That's the part that really gets me, this kid was 17 when he started out, and was able to do things most people only read about, and dream of doing.

I wouldn't be surprised to hear that a part of a plea deal Colt gets is to join the military. He's been able to do what most people need training to do, (besides stealing and break-ins), all the government would need to do is teach this kid a little, and he'd be a good fit for either spec-ops, or a spy.

Originally posted by ChrisF231
This is hilarious. He manages to elude thousands of cops with the latest technology here in the US but then gets caught by some rinky dink British colonial police force.

+1 to the Royal Bahamas Police Force for proving that technology and numbers don't mean everything.

Just a note to appreciate the phrase: "Rinky dink British colonial Police Force".

Made me smile. Nothing further.

In a forum that has aliens visiting, governments attempting to take over the world and enslave humanity, the end of the world just around the corner, corporate facism setting up camps to keep us in and foreign troops coming to disarm us...i find it ironic that people take a high brow attitude here.

This kid pulled off a great run of escape and survival for two years against high technology, security cameras, dogs and guns. He has shown you hope against being herded into the system, into camps. For those of you who think that you'll have a bug out spot, armed to the teeth and defending your victory garden like its the Alamo, this kid used what's around him to survive. He didn't need any gun. he didn't terrorize people, tie them up and rape their young daughters. He stole what he needed to survive, not your jewelry and TVs. He stole food and warmth and transportation.

There is a disapointing lack of continuity of thought here. You say he didn't stick it to the powers that be? I disagree. You fund those halfway houses, you bring the cowardly doctrines to school that de-program basic survival skills like taking on the neighborhood bully...a right of passage to any boy into manhood. How you cry against the man and yearn to be free while hiding behind laws convenient for you...you don't deserve freedom. YOU are the powers that be, because you enable these people to control you.

Here's a KID who did something you can only dream about. What does a 19 year old know about the Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs? Destined to float from halfway houses to jail for the rest of his life, he broke free of the system everyone rails against yet they themselves created. So when the SWAT teams come for you in the middle of the night, and they take you without a shot, you will surrender willingly. They'll spin the news of your capture on TV, that same TV that convinced you of weapons of mass destruction and muslim boogeymen. They'll concoct some story of domestic terrorism where you were a ring leader and everyone else will nestle into the safe and loving arms of big brother and thank them for taking away their rights so they can be safe from people like you when all you were doing was trying to get off the grid.

I will be laughing and watching as you are divided and conquered. And I will remember Colton Harris-Moore. And I will remember him now from what I know, and I will watch how the stories will radiate now that he's been caught. I am going to watch how he is skewered on TV now that he's no longer an embarassment to the people he outfoxed for two years. We don't need to burn the witches at the stake anymore. We burn them on TV to the thunderous roar of approval of hypnotized idiots. Sponsored and paid for by big Pharma, industrial poison merchants, and a war machine with a gaping mouth like a wood chipper where we willingly toss our babies into. Freedom...HA!

reply to post by ThaLoccster


Star for that.

It seems that the audience sympathy goes to whoever is portrayed as more "human". This is achieved by relaying the story, in one case, more from the perspective of the perpetrator, in the other case, from the perspective of the homeowner. The other party is presented as a mere object acted upon. The audience falls for this cheap psychology and, by and large, will add momentum to the way the media wishes the character to be viewed. Amazing so many like to call themselves "awake" yet fall for everything. Hah!

I can see people's romanticized admiration for this kid and his "adventure." But the truth is, if it were my car/boat/house he broke in to and robbed or stole, I would like to take those bare feet and twist them around 180 degrees for him.

I have ZERO tolerance for people who purposely break in to other people's property and steal. Can't say I'd have much sympathy if he broke in to the wrong house and found Mr. Mossberg waiting for him.

thank you kernalpanic, well stated post, star for you.

I do not see a bright future for this boy in spite of all his talents. As others have said, jail is only a training school on how to improve your burglary skills; mind you he could probably be the teacher there, . From everything I have read on him he is not the hardened, drug addicted criminal he will brush shoulders with in prison. Sending him into that environment will be an incredibly stupid and wasteful thing to do.

Even if the CIA somehow absconded him into their service instead of jail, they would only use him up and ultimately throw him to the wolves.

This kid is extraordinary, but just a kid nevertheless. I am saddened to think where his life is going. Focusing on the petty while ignoring the marvelous is so typical of people. I trust they will all get some sadistic pleasure to see this boys life turned to a hell and say he deserved it.

Sad that. He does not. What he deserves is someone who can help him channel his energies and talents.

haha, this kid is awesome!!

Originally posted by Feanorr
haha, this kid is awesome!!

Awesome as in a crook and and a thief. It's pointless to have hero's who are nobody's that live to still from strangers. What a awesome thief for the kids to learn from.

Originally posted by wayno


This guy is a hero to me. I just hope the "system" doesn't break his spirit.

I agree, what a kid ,and lets hope more will follow his inspiration.
Lets hope his "spirit" is strong and I think it just might be..

Originally posted by ThaLoccster
I guess since theres another thread, I'll post the same reply that I posted in the other one.

I wonder if anyone admiring this thief are the same people in the other thread saying thiefs should be shot.

I don't see this kid as admirable.

He did nothing for anyone but himself, he wasn't fighting a cause, or standing up for anyones rights. He was a criminal who was caught burglarizing houses and was sentenced to a halfway house. He escaped from there and continued to burglarize houses, steal cars and even planes.

And people admire this guy?

For what?

Why aren't you admiring the mexicans trying to steal a trailer that got shot by an 82 year old man? What they did was no different than this kid, yet on that thread, at least half are calling for the cold blooded murder of those people.

One thread admires thiefs who steal for their own personal gain, another calls for their murder.

I don't understand.

He actually was fighting a cause, his own, to not have to do a lengthy sentence imposed on him by the juvenille court system.

Now here is what you might not understand in regards to this 18 year old from a impoverished broken family, who became a fugitive of the law and supported himself by going on a burglarly spree.

He was too young to work a real paying job of which there are hardly any available for people with Harvard degrees in their 40's. and he had no other means to support himself, since filling out a W-4 at any job would have led authorities straight to him.

So yes a lot of people are either intriqued by this kid, or consider him a hero because he did what many people are afraid to do, fight back against a unfair system.

By the way you don't seem to mind theives as taxation is not a voluntary process!

So it's not really his theiving that bothers you, because you will happily let entities rob you, if you have been convinced by them first, that it is right to let them do it.

So tell me what is the difference between a government that arbitrarily robs you and will punish you if you don't let them and this kid?

Very little in fact!

Except this kid won't send you to jail if he can't rob you!

Now you might not agree with all that, and that's cool, but that's the foundation of the appeal, that someone like him has on the folk legend scene.