MIAMI (WSVN) - Police are investigating reports of a possible armed robbery aboard a yacht along the Miami River.
7News cameras captured a heavy police presence and several City of Miami Police cruisers with their lights on parked in the area of Southwest North River Drive and Second Street, near The Wharf Miami, just after 10 p.m., Sunday.
The owner of the yacht said they chartered the vessel earlier in the day, and between 13 and 17 people were on board. The people who they chartered the yacht to paid for the service, but at some point, when it came time to bring the yacht back to its proper dock, they held up the captain of the boat at gunpoint and demanded a refund.
The captain told police that one of the men who held him at gunpoint threatened to kill him and throw him off the boat. The suspect then removed the captain’s wallet with approximately $3,500 and his phone from his pocket before threatening another crew member.
According to a police report, rapper Quavo, whose real name is Quavious Marshall, was also on board the boat. Marshall is known for being in the group Migos.
Thankfully, the boat’s owner said, no one was hurt, adding that another crew member had a cellphone and was able to secretly text for help.
Cellphone video captured police officers with rifles and people with their hands up on board the yacht. While the yacht is currently docked near The Wharf, the venue had nothing to do with the incident. Witness Terence Quek described what he saw.
“People are just raising their hands up, so we were kind of wondering what’s going on,” he said. “We didn’t think it was anything big until, like, there’s cop cars coming from the other side as well, so it was kind of like an ambush from both sides, and that’s when we got rushed out, we saw police holding guns, rushing in. It’s a crazy scene, I’m not going to lie, yeah.”
A 7News crew captured Quavo detained with a zip tie behind his back, but shortly after, several people were seen leaving the area and driving away in several black SUVs with dark-tinted windows.
7News cameras captured the rapper leaving the establishment with a shirt covering his face.
“This is not an everyday thing, I hope, right,” said a witness. “Violence like this, it’s kind of scary. So, from where we come from, it’s not very often we have stuff like that.”
The police report also mentioned text messages that showed disagreements about the boat rental hours. Police also found two guns on board, but said they weren’t used in the incident.
Police are still investigating the incident, but said arrests and charges are unlikely due to conflicting statements from crew members.
The Wharf Miami had nothing to do with the incident, but it is where the boat was stopped and where police made entry.
Please check back on WSVN.com and 7News for more details on this developing story.
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