Sausalito Yacht Broker Robert Marotta Threatened in Office
A recent headline in the Marin IJ caught our attention: “Sausalito Dispute Over $1.6M Yacht Lands Suspect in Jail.” After a few calls, we found yacht broker Bob Marotta of Marotta Yachts, who, in fact, was involved in the “dispute.” As Bob explained, a gentleman accompanied by his pit bull came into his office Monday afternoon, explaining that he had just bought the Farallon Islands and wanted to buy a large yacht that was in Sausalito Yacht Harbor to go out to his islands. He claimed to have a “manifest” for the vessel and wanted to buy it in the next 20 minutes and sail off.
As a very experienced yacht broker, Bob knows you never want to prejudge someone who comes into the office, but there were obvious signs that concerned him. After he explained that the yacht in question was not actually for sale and that he couldn’t help the person buy the boat, the man took a swing at him, which Bob luckily avoided. The person was clearly disturbed and agitated, so Bob called the police, who were able to respond promptly. Though the person was very aggressive, the police managed to de-escalate the situation while the accompanying pit bull wagged its tail. The pit bull turned out to be a very friendly companion.
The Sausalito police arrested the man, 39-year-old Scott Michael Swan of San Francisco, and took him off to the Marin County Jail (while this writer’s wife was sitting in the jury pool that day).
All’s well that ends well, right? But the story continues. After being booked into jail, the suspect was released on bail. The police called Marotta Yachts to let them know that the suspect had been released and was not considered dangerous. But it appears he still wanted to buy a boat. Bob’s partner, Mark Catell, told Bob that the next night the police were back in force to retrieve the suspect a second time, as he had boarded another boat he wanted to buy. The police were able to talk him off the boat, keep the situation under control, and rearrest Swan, who was again taken away.
Bob went on to say, “Most of the time we’re dealing with happy customers who are looking forward to a new boat, so this was a very unusual situation.” He recalled what he thought might have been a similar story when he ran into another person on the docks who expressed interest in buying a $1.2 million yacht, though his attire and demeanor left Bob with some doubt about the sale. Nonetheless, he engaged with the individual and took down the information, because you never know. Shortly after, the gentleman’s administrative assistant was in touch to find out how to wire them the $1.2 million! The sale went through.
Both Bob and Mark gave kudos to the Sausalito police for defusing and managing the situation each time. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and they hope the suspect can find the help he needs.