Patrick Wilson
The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
Michael Calabrese, the man rescued from a sailboat in Willoughby during Hurricane Irene, has been jailed for a second time this week.
Calabrese was arrested around midnight Thursday at the 7600 block of Granby St. in Wards Corner. He was charged with damage to property and public drunkenness and released on $500 bond, the Norfolk Sheriff's Office said.
The 48-year-old had been released from jail Wednesday after an arrest on a trespassing charge Sunday at the Bayview Recreation Center.
On Aug. 27 during the hurricane, Calabrese and his girlfriend, Gina Sullivan, were rescued by firefighters from the 42-foot yacht Maybe Tomorrow. The boat remains beached near 9th View Street, and the city had threatened to have it chopped up and removed.
On Friday, however, Lori Crouch, a city spokeswoman, said that the boat will not be demolished Monday if it hasn't been removed, pending City Manager Marcus Jones' review of options for removing a public nuisance.
"We're trying to work with the boat owner to rectify the problem, but we're not going to take a chain saw to it and hack it up on the beach," Crouch said.
She said the city wanted to consider the boat's potential as a pollution source, the interests of beachside residents and the fact the boat was Calabrese's home.
According to an email from Deputy City Attorney Cynthia Hall, Calabrese told city officials Thursday he would provide them with a plan for how he would have the vessel hauled to a trailer. Sewage and seawater appear to have pooled inside the vessel, the email said.
The Sunday arrest happened after the couple returned to the boat to retrieve some possessions, Calabrese said earlier this week. His girlfriend returned to the rec center, where they were staying, he said, and after drinking beer, he tried to see her. Center employees smelled alcohol on his breath and wouldn't let him in.
Court records said Calabrese was "nasty (cursing everyone) and very argumentative."
Pilot writer Steven G. Vegh contributed to this report.
Patrick Wilson, (757) 222-3893, patrick.wilson@pilotonline.com
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Duh
Some people just never learn. Go ahead and cut the boat up. He won't need it. All he needs is three misdemeanor convictions for the same stupid stuff and he'll be a felon. He'll get to spend some time in the concrete motel, 3 hots and a cot.
How about the Navy?
Has anyone asked the Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit at JEBFSLC if they wanted to take this on as a training exercise?
They are experts at this sort of thing.
Next Move
He'll make a bid for seat on the City Council.
Oh no wait....HRT will hire him to drive the new choo choo train.
No doubt...
they'll hire him. He'll mess up again and get a nice big severance package.
and I thought I had a bad
and I thought I had a bad week...
Watch Out
From boat wreck to train wreck
Comments
The comments so far are lots better the The Pilot article..... ROFL
Thanks for the humor.
Comment deleted
Comment removed for rules violation. Reason: Obscene, vulgar, sexual
Michael row the boat ashore,
Michael row the boat ashore, halleluuuujah... hey, wait, how long have we been on the shore like this?
Oh no... another piece of trash littering the Ocean View Beach
Tim Lane and Lee Rosenberg need to be replaced. It's been three years since Harry Minium had an article about the dog paths, junked boats, catamarans, furniture and other assorted trash and refuge ON THE CITY BEACH. Have you seen it lately? It's WORSE than it was three years ago. There is no enforcement of codes and no effort to take back city property that has been destroyed (the dunes) and vandalized.
And now the city leaders don't want to enforce the laws again, against a known felon.
Instead of Ocean View, it would be better to say Trash View.
Wake up Norfolk. You're losing your most precious asset to those who get away with trashing it, compliments of your city leaders, again.
Get that hull off the public beach, TODAY.