Russian man given US asylum caught with stolen $2.5 million yacht, Florida cops say

Mark Price, The Charlotte Observer on May 6, 2025

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A Russian man with a North Carolina address is at the center of a “bizarre” grand theft case involving two boats stolen within hours of each other in Florida, including a $2.5 million luxury yacht, according to investigators.

Nikolai Vilka was arrested Monday, May 5, during a dramatic boat chase that ended when multiple patrol boats combined forces to shove the 68-foot yacht into the mangroves, Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said at a news conference.

Vilka, whose last known address is in Charlotte, told investigators he does not speak English, prompting the Department of Homeland Security to provide a Russian interpreter, officials said.

The 29-year-old is accused starting the crime spree around 2 a.m. Monday, May 5, by stealing a tow boat that became stuck on a sandbar, officials said.

Then, around 3:55 p.m. Monday, Vilka reappeared along the Blowing Rocks Marina near Tequesta, where he took the three-story yacht from its berth, the sheriff’s office said.

A dock master was first to suspect something was amiss and confirmed with the boat’s captain that it was not scheduled to go out to sea that day, officials said.

“We started trying to piece it together because the information was really quite bizarre to us,” Budensiek said. “We thought initially the vessel was being repossessed, which we have occasionally. We found out that is not the case. The vessel is actually paid for.”

The yacht was seen making its way northbound, up the Intracoastal Waterway, toward the Hope Sound area, he said.

The Hope Sound bridge was then “locked down” to try and pin the yacht in, but Vilka began using the yacht to push against the bridge’s pilings, Budensiek said. “We made the decision to open the bridge so the boat ... didn’t cause any damage to the bridge,” he said.

It was about a quarter of a mile north of the bridge that deputies noticed Vilka was having trouble maneuvering the yacht, and they came up with a plan “of beaching” the vessel against mangrove trees, he said.

Vilka refused to surrender when deputies boarded the boat, and tear gas was used to force him to come out, officials said.

A motive has yet to be revealed. However, one theory is that the yacht was being taken to the Bahamas, where it could be used for smuggling into the United States, Budensiek said. The boat has sufficient fuel capacity to make such a trip, officials said.

“He answered questions to a degree (through a translator). He did admit to stealing the vessel, but nothing that was overly insightful for us. We want to know where you came from, why you stole the vessel, where he was going with the vessel and what were you going to do with the vessel,” Budensiek said. “Those questions did not get answered.”

It’s also a mystery how he knew the “complex process” needed to launch a boat of that size, officials said.

Federal officials have confirmed Vilka is a Russian national who flew with his wife and child from Turkey to Mexico in November 2022, then crossed the U.S. border in December, officials said.

Vilka’s driver’s license confirmed the family had settled in Charlotte for reasons not yet known.

On April 30, 2024, his wife and child flew back to Russia for unknown reasons, officials said.

His whereabouts are vague after that, including why he was in Florida, officials said. He told an interpreter he was sleeping in his car in the days before his arrest.

Vilka has been charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle (a $2.5 million vessel), aggravated fleeing and eluding, and resisting arrest without violence. He is being held without bond, officials said.

Additional charges are expected in connection with the theft of the towboat theft in Jupiter, officials say.

He was unarmed when arrested, with only a change of clothes on the yacht, officials said. He had no cell phone, and his car was left in a valet parking area and was towed by the property owner to an undisclosed location.

Martin County is about a 105-mile drive north from Miami along state’s Atlantic Coast.

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