SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — The Nagasaki Prosecutor’s Office, Sasebo Branch, indicted two USS Fort McHenry sailors Friday in connection with the April 12 theft of a fishing boat.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Tyler Montayne Dutcher, 21, and Petty Officer 3rd Class Brandon James Kelley, 20, were arrested April 12 when they were discovered inside the stolen boat after allegedly running the craft aground.

The indictment charges them in the theft of the boat and endangering traffic through negligence, according to a Japanese news report.

The indictment alleges that the two sailors stole the boat, worth about $139,000, around midnight April 12 while it was moored at in Kashimae Cho. It says they took the boat on a 40-minute joyride, then ran it aground damaging several parts.

Shortly after their arrest, an Ainoura police spokesman said the key was in the ignition when the sailors boarded the boat owned by a local seafood company. The joyride ended just 330 yards from where the boat was stolen, he said.

An employee heard the engine start that night, the spokesman added, and contacted the company president, whose wife called police.

Efforts to reach Japanese authorities and a Commander Task Force 76 spokesman to determine whether the two sailors remain in Japanese custody remained unsuccessful at deadline.

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