Judge's stolen tape recorder leads to Pa. "joyboating" arrest, say police

(CBS/AP) KITTANNING, Pa. - Police say a western Pennsylvania man went joyriding in three stolen boats, and they caught up with him because he left a stolen cassette recorder in one of them.

The tape recorder, authorities say, was stolen from a judge - and the thief used it to record an account of his boating crime spree.

State police say 21-year-old Jesse Shipley, of South Bend, Pa., remains in a hospital psychiatric unit. He was to be arraigned on theft and other charges once he's released.

Police tell the Leader-Times newspaper that Shipley drove the boats on the Allegheny River on Friday, June 17, two days after he allegedly stole the tape recorder from the office of Kittanning District Judge James Owen, about 35 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. Authorities didn't explain why Shipley was in the judge's office.

A fanny pack found on one of the boats contained the recorder, on which police say Shipley recorded his account of the events. According to the newspaper, police say those events entailed joy-riding in three boats in Washington Township, and allegedly stealing a GPS unit from a vehicle parked in Madison, Pa.