Barefoot Bandit's Mother Glad that Colton Harris-Moore is Safe
SEATTLE (CBS/AP) The mother of "The Barefoot Bandit" Colton Harris-Moore issued a brief statement Monday saying she is glad her son is safe and no one was hurt during his capture in the Bahamas.
PICTURES: "Barefoot Bandit" Arrested
"I am very relieved that Colt is now safe and that no one was hurt during his capture," Pamela Kohler said in a statement issued through her attorney in Seattle.
For two years, the 19-year-old stayed a step ahead of the law - stealing cars, powerboats and airplanes, police say, while building a reputation as a 21st-century folk hero.
But his celebrity ultimately became his downfall, when witnesses on the Bahamian island of Eleuthera recognized him and called police.
Investigators captured Harris-Moore on Sunday after a high-speed boat chase, Bahamas Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade said at a celebratory news conference in Nassau, the capital.
Harris-Moore is blamed for several thefts in the Bahamas in the week since allegedly crash-landing a stolen plane there, and Bahamian authorities said he will be prosecuted for those crimes before the start of any U.S. extradition proceedings.
The 6-foot-5-inch teen had been on the run since escaping from a Washington state halfway house in 2008. He is accused of breaking into dozens of homes and committing burglaries across Washington, as well as in British Columbia and Idaho.
He is also suspected of stealing at least five planes - including the aircraft he allegedly lifted in Indiana and flew more than 1,000 miles to the Bahamas, despite a lack of formal training.
Kohler has defended her son, saying the allegations against him are exaggerated. She previously told The Associated Press that she hoped he would flee to a country that doesn't have an extradition treaty with the United States.
"I have not yet been able to speak to him. It has been over two and a half years since I have seen him, and I miss him terribly," Kohler said in the statement. "I hope that it will be possible for me to see him sometime soon. However, I don't yet know when that might happen."
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