UPDATE: Coast Guard Takes Captain of Suspicious Boat that Fled Sausalito Area Into Custody

The U.S. Coast Guard has taken into custody the captain of a suspicious sailboat that fled from the Sausalito area earlier today, a spokesman said this evening.

An 87-foot Coast Guard patrol boat was able to intercept the boat west of the Golden Gate Bridge around 7 p.m., Officer Mark Leahey said. The boat's captain initially attempted to demand that the boarding party put away its guns, but the unit was able to board and take him into custody, Leahey said.

The 30-foot sailboat initially caught the Coast Guard's attention around 4 p.m. when it was spotted by a unit patrolling in Richardson Bay near Sausalito, doing routine boardings in the area, Leahey said.

The sailboat had no flag flying and no markings of any kind indicating its name or origins, which is highly unusual, Leahey said.

The Coast Guard unit attempted to contact and board the boat, but the captain refused permission to board, and may have allegedly threatened members of the boarding crew, Leahey said.

The coast guard unit called for backup from a larger Coast Guard patrol boat as well as the Sausalito police and the Marin County Sheriff's Office.

While it was waiting, however, the boat got underway around 5 p.m. Leahey said the boat was allowed to sail away based on safety considerations at the time.

The Coast Guard tailed the boat, which was traveling slowly, around two miles past the Golden Gate Bridge and waited for the larger patrol boat to arrive.

The sailboat is being taken back to Sausalito and the captain is being taken back to local authorities in Marin County. It is not yet clear what charges he might face, if any, or what his motive was for fleeing the Coast Guard, Leahey said.

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