A Keys man was caught with 16 stolen lobsters stuffed down his pants, cops say

A 27-year-old Florida Keys deckhand tried to steal 16 lobster tails by stuffing them down his pants, police said.

Gerry Lee Pinson, of Marathon, was arrested on misdemeanor charges of theft, possession of wrung lobster tails while on the water and possession of one undersized lobster tail.

A lobster’s tail cannot be wrung, or separated, from its body while the harvester is on the water. Lobsters must be brought back to land in whole condition. And when the tail is separated from the body on land, it must be longer than 5 1/2 inches.

At about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers were conducting inspections on the docks at Nichols Seafood fish house on Conch Key.

The Life Force vessel pulled in.

Pinson quickly got off the Life Force and tried to leave the area, officers say.

But FWC officers stopped him and told him he had to stay with the boat until the inspection was completed. Pinson complied, and started helping the other deckhands unload lobster traps.

Then officers noticed Pinson was holding up his rain slicker pants and walking awkwardly while his leg bottoms of the slicker were bulging, according to FWC spokesman Officer Bobby Dube.

FWC officers asked Pinson what was in his pants. He said he had lobster tails on him, police said.

When an FWC officer untucked the slicker pants from the deckhand’s boots, 16 wrung lobster tails fell out onto the boat deck.

Pinson told FWC that he was going to take home the lobsters to eat. The boat captain told FWC he wanted to press charges for theft.

Pinson was handcuffed and taken to the county jail on Stock Island. He was released the next day without having to post a bond.