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‘Barefoot bandit’ launches solo international crime spree

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

July 8, 2010 | 2 min read

American teenager, Colton Harris-Moore, has embarked upon a brazen crime spree; that has culminated in the theft of an airplane. But social media has helped him catch the eye of Holywood and raised his chances that crime might pay.

The 19 year old is rapidly acquiring cult status on the web after his latest, most outlandish, stunt saw him crash land a stolen aircraft in the Bahamas.

Moore is said to have flown to the sun soaked island from Indiana where he remains on the run. FBI detectives are currently engaged in a manhunt on the island after reports of a stolen car and a break in at a local restaurant but fear he may have vanished once more.

It is not the teens first encounter with an aircraft having nabbed a plane last autumn from an Idaho aircraft hangar, that incident left him known as the “barefoot bandit” after tell tale imprints were left behind.

A similar stunt in Orcas Island, Washington State, saw the wayward aviator break into a grocery store, steal a tray of croissants and… with barefaced cheek chalk out cartoon footprints on the floor together with the letters: “C-YA!”

Not unaccustomed to adventure the runaway has been living in woods since he was seven and enjoys the full support of his mum who professes herself “proud” at his exploits, a point of view backed up by 46,000 Facebook fans.

Authorities are less impressed however, they are offering a reward of £6,000 for information leading to Moore’s arrest stating: “He’s gone from being a regional nuisance to a national nuisance to, if this is him again, an international criminal.”

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