tommy baker yacht

Man who grounded yacht in Palm Beach served time for Ferrari theft

The owner of a  72-foot-yacht beached early Wednesday in the North End of Palm Beach has a penchant for expensive toys.

But a review of court documents reveals Thomas Henry Baker hasn’t always paid for them.

>  PHOTOS: 72-foot yacht washes ashore in Palm Beach

In June 2009, Baker, pleaded guilty to knowingly selling two stolen high-end sports cars the previous year — a 1985 Ferrari Testarossa valued at $55,000 and  a 1996 Ferrari F50  with a market value of $729,000. The F50 theft was national news because an FBI agent crashed the car after it was recovered.

Baker, 63, of Belle Isle, south of Orlando, made news again last week when he was charged with boating under the influence. Palm Beach police said a trip with his girlfriend from the Bahamas ended when his $500,000 yacht, the Time Out, ran aground just south of the Palm Beach Inlet.  The yacht   remained there early Saturday evening.

 >  UPDATE: Fuel removed from grounded yacht on Palm Beach’s North End

It was Baker’s third alcohol-related arrest in just over two years and his second boating under the influence charge in the past month, records show.

As part of a plea deal in 2009 in U.S. District Court, Baker admitted he stole the Testarossa on July 15, 2003, from Gullwing MotorCars in Long, Island, N.Y., and stole the Ferrari F50 on Sept. 16 of that year from Algar Ferrari of Bryn Mawr, Penn.

Baker was living in Nicholasville, Ky., at the time. He admitted to hiding the cars he stole in storage units, altering their vehicle registration numbers and fraudulently acquiring titles for them. According to one victim, Baker hid the purloined Ferraris in a hangar at the Lexington Airport.

In September 2009, the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Kentucky, ordered Baker to reimburse his victims and pay a $250,000 fine and sentenced him to six months in prison for one felony count of sale or receipt of stolen vehicles.

Revelation ‘left me stunned’

According to the U.S. District Court records, in 2008, Dr. Jasbir Dhillon, a general surgeon, paid Baker $375,000 and gave him about $100,000 worth of “rare and exotic firearms” for the Ferrari F50. It was one of only 349 built, according to Sotheby’s.

Dhillon was working at a Kentucky hospital when a colleague of his wife’s introduced him to Baker.

In a Feb. 25, 2011, post to an online forum for car collectors, Dhillon described how he felt in 2008 when he learned that the Ferrari that Baker sold him was stolen and would be seized by the FBI.

“I cannot tell you how that moment felt … utter disbelief, shock … a knee-bending moment that left me stunned. I knew I had let my guard down and done a deal in a way that I never had before. And it stood to cost me several hundred thousand dollars,” Dhillon wrote.

Dhillon, however, managed to get a full refund before the FBI arrested Baker and seized the car.

“I could never imagined this fellow being capable of that … something so brazen. I just didn’t see it in him. But I suppose the desire to be something you are not just overwhelmed him,” Dhillon wrote.

While Dhillon got his money back, the F50 suffered a less fortunate end.

In May 2009, while reportedly moving the car from one storage site to another, an FBI agent lost control of the car and crashed it into a tree. The F50 was totaled.

In May 2008, Baker gave Karol Poulos the Testarossa to settle a $20,000 debt, records show. Later that month, she accepted a $2,000 deposit from a man to buy it. Federal agents ordered her to return it. Poulos is listed as a friend in the 2009 plea agreement but during Baker’s arrest in Palm Beach on Wednesday, Poulos told police she is Baker’s girlfriend.

More charges

In May 2014, Baker was arrested in Orange County on charges of driving under the influence and damaging property, records show. He later pleaded no contest to reckless driving.

Baker also was charged with boating under the influence on Aug. 14 in Brevard County, court records show. His arraignment in that case is scheduled for Sept. 19. According to records, Baker was charged after officers noticed a 70-foot yacht “operating carelessly” in Port Canaveral. Tests showed a blood alcohol content of 0.206, records show. The legal limit in Florida is 0.08. He also was cited for having an expired vessel registration.

Baker told Palm Beach police Wednesday that “his GPS misguided him to shallow waters near the coastline,” causing his yacht to run aground. Baker also said he had  “several Long Island Iced Teas” in the hours before Time Out hit shore around 2:15 a.m. Wednesday.

Career questions

On the Palm Beach police report about Baker’s arrest Wednesday, Baker is listed as a retired federal air marshal. A Transportation Security Administration spokesman said agency records show no one matching Baker’s name and age has been an air marshal.

The TSA, however, did certify Baker as a federal flight deck officer in June 2007. That allowed Baker to carry a gun while piloting flights. The privilege was revoked in 2009 because of the thefts.

Baker’s Facebook page says he’s a former JetBlue pilot.

During his sentence in Kentucky, Baker was in custody from Monday mornings to Thursday mornings, but allowed to be released to work his scheduled flight from Lexington to Orlando, court records show. The custody deal was then amended in October 2009 to Mondays through Wednesdays at Baker’s request to accommodate the flight schedule. The change added two months to his sentence, according to records.

In recent years, Baker has chartered small groups to the Caribbean on the Time Out through his company, Blue Waters Enterprise.

>   UPDATE: Fuel removed from grounded yacht on Palm Beach’s North End

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About Tommy and Victoria Baker

Mr. Tommy Baker was born in Charleston, where he attended Moultrie High School before leaving South Carolina to serve his country in the Marine Corps. After his service, he returned to the Lowcountry in 1968, attended The Citadel as a member of the Class of 1972 from the Veterans Program. Several years later, he was accepted into Harvard Business School’s exclusive Owner/President Management Program, an intensive three-year study of business models and executive education.

Tommy’s desire to learn continued as he navigated the automotive business, spending 25 years learning the industry at dealerships across the Southeast. In 1988, he founded Baker Motor Company in Charleston, and he has since expanded the award-winning company to include Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Land Rover, INFINITI, Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, Maserati, and a luxury Pre-Owned Center on its main campus on Savannah Highway. More recent additions to his line-up include Mercedes-Benz of Mount Pleasant, Baker Buick GMC Cadillac on Savannah Highway, and three dealerships in Wilmington, North Carolina—BMW of Wilmington, Porsche Wilmington, and The Baker Collection of Wilmington. In addition to the named franchises, Mr. Baker opened the flagship Mercedes-Benz Vans Center-Baker and The Baker Collection in Summerville, SC.

With a passion for his community, Mr. Baker saw the need for a true community bank in the Lowcountry and founded Beacon Community Bank in January of 2018. With 300 local shareholders, a 17-member board of Charleston’s most distinguished leaders and business owners, a team of seasoned banking professionals, and two Lowcountry locations, Beacon Community Bank is local to the core—focused on hometown, personalized, high-end service and swift local decision making. Mr. Baker is proud to actively serve as Chairman of the Board for Beacon Community Bank.

Mr. Baker has always prioritized giving back to the Charleston community. He has served as past chair of the MUSC Children’s Hospital, the College of Charleston School of Business, YEScarolina and the Free Enterprise Foundation. Currently, Mr. Baker serves as Chairman of the Board for Beacon Community Bank, and he is on the board of directors for the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition, the Board of Governors for the College of Charleston, and serves on the Lowcountry Heart Walk Executive Leadership Team. Professionally, he has served as Chairman for the Mercedes-Benz Dealer Board and the Advisory Dealer Board for INFINITI.

Mr. Baker currently resides on Sullivan’s Island, SC with his wife, Vickie, of 38 years. They have three grown children and five grandchildren, four of which are living. Vickie couldn’t be a more loving or doting grandmother to her grandchildren. She adores them greatly and loves spending time with them and attending their sports activities.

Mr. Baker is an avid runner, and most recently took up the challenging sport of paddle boarding. He also enjoys spending as much time as possible with his family and friends.

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Business, Baker Motor Company

Take a look at a year’s worth of area charitable event banners and T-shirts, and the Baker Motor Company (BMC) crest is nearly ubiquitous among the lineup of sponsor logos. But if you ask the company’s founder and CEO, Tommy Baker, which of these causes is his favorite, he laughs off the question. “If I were to name any one,” Baker says, “I’d get 20 calls from the ones I didn’t name.”

Still, there are a few causes that particularly “pull at his heartstrings,” Baker admits—mostly those involving defenseless children (like anything related to MUSC Children’s Hospital) or students (especially motivated, business-minded kids). The fact that Baker identifies with bootstrap ambition makes sense. A self-made success story, he grew up as a lower-middle-class kid in Mount Pleasant and paid his way through The Citadel by teaching GED classes, selling cars, and eventually buying and selling property on the Isle of Palms. In 1988, after leaving the Palmetto State to learn the car business top to bottom, he returned to open the first of his many high-end dealerships, while at the same time attending Harvard Business School’s management program.

That the lifelong entrepreneur cites YESCarolina—in which kids across the state create, pitch, and often launch viable businesses—as a favorite philanthropy is no surprise. “Any one of those kids could have been me,” Baker says, “any one of them. So I’ve been on the board chairing since its inception. It’s such a privilege to watch these children, most from the inner city or those who’ve not had educational opportunities, learn entrepreneurship and how to turn their lives around with business skills. It’s phenomenal.” He relates those teens’ experiences to those of the students he has taught at the College of Charleston for more than two decades. As an “entrepreneur-in-residence” in the School of Business, he’s helped scores of budding business folk find their way. “But if it’s between calling me a teacher and a mentor,” he says, “I prefer ‘mentor.’ The hope is that you’ve given them enough tools so they can go out there and play the game—and play it the right way.”

CofC graduate Stewart Vernon, founder and CEO of America’s Swimming Pool Company, says Baker did exactly that for him. “The business lessons he taught helped mold me into the business person I am today.”

This year, along the lines of charity beginning at home, BMC started the “Tommy B. Baker Scholarship Fund,” which awards the spouse or child of a company employee $2,500 to put toward education. Shavonna Simmons, a mother of four whose husband works for BMC, is one of two 2013 recipients and will use the money to help fund nursing school. “He has offered to help me any way he could,” Simmons says, “so I can complete my degree. I’d often wondered where the kind-hearted people of the world are, but that question has now been answered.”

CHARITY DRIVE

Cruising Speed: Baker named his yacht, Lady Victoria, after his wife of 31 years, Vickie. They often offer up a cruise as a prize for fundraisers that BMC sponsors, such as the 2013 YESCarolina gala. Sounding Board: Before he found success with Butcher & Bee, Michael Shemtov was a young grad of CofC and former student of Tommy Baker looking to open Mellow Mushroom on King Street. “It was Tommy that I went to when I had an important meeting with the landlord,” he says. While running his dealerships, Baker’s calendar is still filled with weekly meetings with past students and other mentees.  

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Thomas Baker: Captain who admitted drinking Long Island Ice Teas before grounding yacht gets deal

Thomas Baker, the captain of an overturned 72-foot yacht who admitted to drinking Long Island Ice Teas last year, reached a plea deal in his case.

Baker pleaded guilty Friday to recklessly operating a vessel and will no longer be prosecuted for boating under the influence.

Baker, 63, of Belle Isle, Fla., a suburb of Orlando, told police he "failed to navigate his vessel into the Palm Beach Inlet and ran the vessel into the beach."  

Palm Beach Police accused Baker of driving the yacht, "Time Out," onto the shoreline after claiming he had too many Long Island Iced Teas on September 7, 2016.

As part of the plea deal, Baker must complete DUI school and 75 hours of community service. He will be on probation for one year.

His case for leaving a derelict vessel on state waters remains open. In October, Baker sued the Town of Palm Beach for $450,000 to recover his losses.

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Pilot's alleged 'drunken joy ride' under investigation

by Lynda Figueredo

PALM BEACH (CBS12) — It's a crash that has caused quite a mess.

For nearly 3 days crews have been trying to find the safest way to move a 72-foot yacht off the beach.

While the man responsible 62-year-old Thomas Baker will have to foot the bill and faces a second boating under the influence charge, there is no guarantee the commercial pilot has to report the charge to the FAA.

"BUI has historically been treated differently than duo and boating under the influence is just as dangerous as driving under the influence and he is a classic repeat offender," said Attorney Gary Lesser. "That is a disaster."

For Lesser it serves as a reminder as to why boating under the influence should be taken more seriously.

"If you get a BUI theoretically things are supposed to happen. You aren't supposed to be behind the boat of another vessel and there he was. He showed total disregard for boating and getting behind a vessel," said Lesser.

Last year the state of Florida tried to pass a bill that would link driving and boating under the influence. That bill failed.

Being that Baker is a commercial pilot and was recognized in 2013 by the FAA as a prestigious FAA Airman you would think he would have to report this BUI to the agency. CBS 12 learned there is no federal requirement for him to do so.

"Data banks don't talk to each other," said Lesser. " Law enforcement agencies don't talk to each other. Any crimes involving drugs or alcohol should be reported to a regulatory agency like the fact so that person never gets behind flying a plane for our family or our friends."

In fact, Baker was charged with stealing a rare Ferrari in 2009. As part of his sentencing he was still able to fly commercially while serving federal prison time

Baker's next court date is set for October 6th. We learned he no longer works for JetBlue.

The circumstances surrounding his departure remain unclear.

As for the yacht, it will be some time before this boat sets sail again.

TOMMY YACHT PRICE

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Learn about the TOMMY yacht price and specifications below,  along with a sampling of similar luxury yachts for sale. The listed luxury yachts for sale on this page range in size from 34m / 112ft to 52m / 171ft , while the median age is 25 years. The sale price of each luxury yacht below has many factors, including which of the luxury yacht builders built the yacht, the level of fit and finish, the current condition, the year, and more. To better understand the TOMMY yacht price and what it entails, simply speak with one of our luxury yacht brokers and request a custom detailed yacht report . Our reports are current and include the most accurate information available on motor yachts for sale and motor yachts for charter , worldwide.

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The TOMMY yacht was built by Benetti Yachts, and delivered in 1995. The length is 170.6 ft / 52 m, she measures 474 gross tons, and her interior layout accommodates guests in 5 staterooms. Many elements including performance, level of fit and finish, amenities and more, determine how much a yacht costs. If there is no TOMMY yacht price, you can rely on the experience and expertise of the yacht brokers and specialists at Merle Wood & Associates in evaluating the purchase of a luxury yacht. If you’d like to know the weekly rate of the TOMMY yacht for charter , and if she is available for a yacht charter vacation, view the TOMMY yacht charter price and summary.

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The TOMMY yacht price is not available because it is believed to be NOT for sale. The yacht brokers at Merle Wood & Associates have relationships with captains and clients of the most notable yachts worldwide. To enquire about a yacht for sale, or to request a showing along with a full market analysis, simply contact a qualified luxury yacht broker at Merle Wood & Associates. As an internationally recognized leader in the sales, marketing and chartering of the most discerning yachts world-wide, we are dedicated to providing a first class buying experience to all of our clients.

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