MARCO ISLAND, Fla. — Police say a man stole and crashed a boat off southwest Florida that belongs to a Minnesota dentist who killed Cecil the lion while hunting in Africa.
The Naples Daily News reports 26-year-old Andrew Derwin of Marco Island was arrested on a felony charge of grand theft Tuesday and remains held. Authorities say Derwin took Walter Palmer’s $61,175 boat from his vacation home Sunday and later crashed it. Derwin’s passenger, Nicolas Stolinas, was seriously injured, officials say.
Investigators say Derwin took the keys from the home of a neighbor who watches over Palmer’s home. It wasn’t clear where Palmer was at the time.
Palmer caused an international furor after he killed the well-known lion in July 2015 in Zimbabwe. A month later, in August 2015, someone else vandalized his Marco Island vacation home, spray painting “lion killer” on the garage door and leaving pickled pigs’ feet on the driveway.
