Tristan Eugene Royer, 38, of Venice was charged with burglary to an unoccupied conveyance (unarmed); fleeing to elude LEO in a boat; reckless operation of a vessel; grand theft more than $5,000 but less than $10,000; three counts of bond forfeiture; an out of county warrant; and petit theft, first degree.
The incident began to play out on Friday, July 15 when calls came in to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office about suspicious activity at Don Pedro State Park. The caller said a man swam from his boat on the Intracoastal to the pavilion, walked out of sight in the dunes, then came back through the dunes carrying a backpack. He got on the boat and left. The caller said he and another person with him returned to where their boat was docked and realized that there were signs of forced entry to the boat and a pair of pliers and a backpack were missing. The backpack contained money, credit cards and personal items.