In a twist of the story, it turns out that the plane, which was owned by Paramount Air Service, was stolen from the owner’s stepson.
The president of Paramount Air Service, Barbra Tomalino, said in a press release;
“One of our mechanics, who also is my stepson, decided to take one of the planes out and go for a joy ride,” she said. “We didn’t realize it, because we were all closed up for the day and didn’t know anything about it until 11 o’clock. That’s when the police came by to let us know we had an airplane at the coast guard base.”
Police are still on the look out for the pilot and do have a warrant for his arrest. The only charge they have at this time is of trespassing.
The plane was defueled before taken off the beach.
