Escaped Sex Offender Stephen Bell Captured in FL

The following news release was issued Wednesday by the U.S. Coast Guard:

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Coast Guard and the Brevard County Sheriff's Office, Fla., apprehended a convicted sex offender for violating his probation and possession of a stolen vessel Tuesday at approximately 9:30 p.m.

Stephen Alexander Bell, 40, from Tybee Island, Ga., was apprehended last night by the crew of Coast Guard Station Port Canaveral and officers from the Brevard County Sheriff's Office. The man was spotted drifting on a sail boat 100-yards south of the entrance jetties at Port Canaveral. 

The crew of Coast Guard Station Port Canaveral received a cell phone call at 9:15 p.m. from a Good Samaritan near the channel entrance to Port Canaveral that a sailing vessel was apparently disabled and drifting towards the jetties. The Coast Guard launched a 25-foot rescue boat to assist the sailing vessel Showtime.

Meanwhile, Coast Guard members at Station Port Canaveral recognized the name of the vessel and realized the vessel had been reported stolen in Georgia. Law enforcement officers from Station Port Canaveral and the Brevard County Sheriff's Office were sent to the vessel to investigate the vessel and Alexander.

Coast Guard and Brevard County Sheriff's Officer realized Alexander was a sex offender wanted for violating probation in Chatham County, Ga. BCSO sent a canine team and additional officers to the Coast Guard Station to assist the feds in Alexander's arrest.

In a Kimberly's Call Alert Bulletin issued by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Bell is wanted for probation violation of a child molestation charge. Bell was convicted in 2004 for molesting a girl in Tybee Island, Ga.

Alexander is being held at the Brevard County Jail awaiting extradition to Georgia, and the sailing vessel Showtime is at Station Port Canaveral. The crew of Station Canaveral is in touch with the owner and working to return the vessel to him.

The Showtime was reported stolen from Walsh's Dock Marina Dock in Tybee Island April 10. Bell violated his probation by removing on or around April 5.

The U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, Brevard County Sheriff's Office, Chatham County Sheriff's Office and the Tybee Island Police Department are investigating the incident.

The following information was released Wednesday by the Chatham County Sheriff's Office:

Stephen Alexander Bell was arrested late last night in Brevard County, Florida.  He was arrested and charged with Grand Theft of a sail boat by the local authorities.  Extradition proceedings have begun and as soon as he is released from his charges in Floride, he will be brought back to Chatham County by the Sheriff's Department.

Bell faces full revocation of his probated sentence which runs through 2018 as well as additional charges of destroying State property for cutting the ankle monitor off.

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