One boat piece at a time
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One boat piece at a time
TEXT OF INTERVIEW
SCOTT JAGOW: There’s an old Johnny Cash song called “One Piece at a Time.” It’s about a guy who works at a car factory and he steals Cadillac parts one piece at a time, so he can build his dream car. Well, as they say, truth is stranger than fiction. Yesterday in Britain a man was convicted of stealing hundreds of boat parts, so he could build his dream yacht. Simon de Bruxelles covered the story for the Times of London. Simon, tell us what happened.
SIMON DE BRUXELLES: Well here you’ve got a guy who was working for one of Britain’s biggest luxury boat makers who decided that he wanted one of his own but unfortunately couldn’t afford it because they cost in the region of $2 million.
JAGOW: Right.
DE BRUXELLES: So he started smuggling the parts out in his toolbox.
JAGOW: In his toolbox.
DE BRUXELLES: In his toolbox. And over a period of seven years he managed to accumulate about 700 components of this boat, which when finished is about 50-foot long.
JAGOW: How would these pieces fit in a toolbox?
DE BRUXELLES: Well they didn’t. He was caught with a DVD player from the boat in his toolbox. We don’t really know how he managed to get the radar mast and the widescreen TV and all the other bits he took home with him out of the building because there was supposedly quite strict security.
JAGOW: And now what’s gonna happen to him?
DE BRUXELLES: Well, now he’s gotta do 200 hours unpaid community service. He doesn’t have a job anymore and I don’t think he’s got the bits of the boat anymore so I guess he’s got to start again from scratch.
JAGOW: Yeah maybe he could try a different strategy this time.
DE BRUXELLES: Yeah well I mean they actually built the one in the Johnny Cash song so you never know, maybe he’ll get the pieces together in the end.
JAGOW: Alright Simon, thanks a lot.
DE BRUXELLES: Nice talking to you.
JAGOW: Simon de Bruxelles is a reporter with the Times of London. In Los Angeles, I’m Scott Jagow. Thanks for listening.
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