San Diego suspect accused of bringing one-man destruction derby to harbor aboard stolen vessel

By LEN BOSE

While sitting in the Columbia Room at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club last Sunday night, a couple of people came up to me and asked what the final outcome was of the March 10th excitement on the harbor when someone allegedly stole a boat and rammed it into a dock and seawall.

That someone turned out to be suspect Joel Praneet Siam, 38, of San Diego. This incident wasn’t Siam’s first time he has butted heads with the authorities. Court records show he was previously charged in San Diego County for assault with a deadly weapon, stemming from an alleged August 5, 2020 skateboard attack on another man, and referred to a pretrial diversion program for people with serious mental illness.

This latest story, however, starts with Siam allegedly buying or receiving a stolen vehicle along with committing vandalism to a vehicle along Mariners’ Mile. Sources told me he was next seen walking through the parking lot at the Sea Scout Base.

He then allegedly made his way down to the docks and found a 60’ Azimut yacht that was in the shop receiving service, with the technician not onboard the vessel at the time. The tech had left the key in the ignition, my guess being that he was out shopping for parts.The suspect then allegedly boarded the vessel and figured out how to start it. After putting the boat into gear, he attempted to maneuver it out of its slip. 

Later, looking at photos after the vessel had been hauled out at one of our local shipyards, it appeared to still have an electrical cord and dock lines wrapped around the props, along with broken dock lines on the vessel’s cleats. The odds seem pretty clear that he pulled out of the slip without untying it or unplugging the electric cord.My guess is that Siam left the slip and had just completed a 360-degree turn before pushing it to full throttle and quickly impacting the docks at what I still call Ardell Marina. 

Damage done was running into and dismasting a Hunter 42 sailboat which appears to be totaled. Then, the boat was backed off the docks and again went into a circular patten just missing the same docks again. Somehow the suspect reportedly re-gained control and headed toward the Lido Isle Bridge where he reportedly hit another boat on an end tie, before then plowing headfirst into the sea wall.

A very good friend of mine was on the scene there at the time and informed me that the suspect was directly below him and not at the helm when running into the seawall. “I was screaming and cursing at him with every word that I know. It was obvious that he was not hearing a word.”What must have seemed like an eternity for my friend, who also had a boat berthed there, the Sheriff’s patrol finally arrived and quickly apprehended Siam. Reports indicate that he was lying down in the flybridge where the Sheriffs eventually cuffed him. 

He was taken to the Orange County Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol office and subsequently transferred to the Newport Beach Police and booked on a $3 million bond.Overall damage is estimated to be $3 million; with the Azimut 60 value being in the ballpark of $1.5 million and is reported as “all messed up.”The damage done to the docks on Lido is estimated at $50,000 and with eight slips at the Ardell Marina, that has to be pushing close to another $1 million in repairs. You’d still have to add up all the damage to the other boats in that marina, bringing the rough estimate to $3 million really quick.

Siam was charged with eight counts of vandalism and single counts each of grand theft, buying or receiving a stolen vehicle and battery with serious bodily injury, all felonies. He was also charged with one misdemeanor count of vandalism and faces a sentencing enhancement for inflicting great bodily injury on a victim. Siam previously faced up to four years in state prison for the charges filed back in 2020.

Siam’s jail records show his occupation to be a CEO of a San Diego-based company. I was not able to confirm whether or not he was able to pay the $3 million bond and further updates have been unavailable to me at this time.

Sea ya.

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Len Bose is a yachting enthusiast, yacht broker and harbor columnist for Stu News Newport.