It's been One Year Since Plane-Stealing Jerk/Felon Finally Got
Caught
Today is the one-year anniversary of the arrest of Colton Harris
Moore, who became known as "The Barefoot Bandit" for his alleged
theft of planes, boats and cars, and at least 100 suspected
burglaries over two years. The troubled teen from Camano Island,
Washington reportedly endured an abusive father who deserted the
family after attempting to choke the boy, the death of a
stepfather, and repeated incarcerations for minor offenses.
Moore was said to have developed the survival skills to live in
the woods for days at a time to escape his difficult family life,
breaking into cabins for blankets and other needs. Finally, in
April of 2008, facing his first serious jail time for the theft of
a neighbor's camcorder, he escaped from a group home in Renton,
Washington, and the string of crime reports began.
Moore mocked his pursuers with a signed note at one of his
stops. A chalk outline of bare feet was left on the floor of a
store during a robbery. A growing legend included folksongs,
20-thousand friends on a Facebook page and sales of T-shirts and
other souvenirs.
Moore's arrest, in Harbour Island, the Bahamas, followed
discovery of a crashed Cessna Corvalis on the shore of Great Abaco
Island, a plane which had been reported stolen earlier in
Bloomington, Indiana. Moore is not a pilot, but is thought to have
learned how to steal planes by reading online manuals and playing
with a flight simulator game. Unfortunately, he never learned to
land one, and the stolen planes were all recovered after being
crash-landed.
It's hard to know how much fun it was being an infamous
anti-hero, but Moore is definitely not having fun in the legal
system. After his offenses in the Bahamas were covered by paying a
$300 fine, he was returned to the US by the FBI, where multiple
jurisdictions wanted a piece of him.
Represented by an attorney hired by his mother, Moore took a
plea deal last month on seven federal charges in a Seattle
courtroom. He'll be sentenced in October, and could get
six-and-a-half years in federal prison. Part of the deal involves
turning over any profits from exploitation of his story to
compensate his known victims for $1.4 million in losses. Some of
the state and local charges still pending could carry enhanced
penalties for use of firearms.
While he awaits sentencing, Moore is confined to the Federal
Detention Center at SeaTac, Washington. Given his 6'5" frame, it's
not surprising he plays basketball with other detainees to pass the
time. But KIRO-TV quotes his attorney, John Henry Browne, in
reporting that Moore, who is now 20, broke his leg during one of
the games. Browne was asked for more details by the station, but
would add only that his client did make the shot.