Police arrest suspected 'East Bay Pirates' who allegedly raided boats on Oakland waterfront

The Oakland Police Department announced that it recently arrested three suspected "East Bay Pirates" who allegedly raided houseboats and yachts along Oakland's waterfront, KRON reported.

On Thursday, authorities detained three individuals believed to be connected to a March 13 robbery that targeted a maritime business on the 1300 block of Embarcadero, a San Francisco waterfront. The break-in prompted a joint investigation between the Oakland Police Department Marine Unit and the Criminal Investigation Division Burglary Unit.

Police officers used security footage provided by the business to identify the suspects, who they recognized as individuals residing on boats in the Oakland Estuary, KPIX-TV reported. Law enforcement officials recovered items stolen from the business on two ships associated with the detained individuals.

Authorities will present the case to Alameda District Attorney Pamela Price's office for charging. George Soros-backed Price is currently facing a recall effort over her soft-on-crime policies, which critics argue have led to a significant uptick in crime in Oakland.

Residents living in houseboats and yachts along the waterfront have reported an increase in theft and physical confrontations with the "East Bay Pirates," according to Fox News Digital. The thieves use small stolen or abandoned boats to reach and break into larger ships docked in the area.

During an October San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission's enforcement meeting, former harbormaster Brock de Lappe stated, "The open shoreline of the (Oakland-Alameda) estuary is littered with sunken wrecks and derelict, end-of-life vessels, and crime has risen to truly intolerable levels."

"Multiple vessels have been stolen and ransacked. Victims have had to resort to personally confronting the criminals to recover their property without the benefit of police support. Is this an appropriate activity for a 79-year-old senior?" de Lappe questioned.

Alameda Police Chief Nishant Joshi told Fox News Digital, "In the waterways, it's very difficult to draw a line."

"There are no roadways or fence lines, so we all have a shared interest, much like crime as a whole, to deal with this as a regional approach," Joshi noted.

A Coast Guard spokesperson called the waterfront burglaries "a federal and state problem," Fox News Digital reported.

"We're all working to protect the best interests of everyone in the estuary," the representative told the news outlet.

Oakland police are still investigating the thefts.

Residents across Oakland have sounded the alarm about the area's out-of-control crime problem. Several San Francisco Bay Area businesses, including Denny's, In-N-Out, Black Bear Diner, Subway, and Starbucks, announced that they would close amid the crime wave. Last month, Taco Bell stated that several of its Oakland locations will close their dining rooms following several recent robberies.

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