Virginia Beach, Va. - Michael Bowyer is charged with stealing two cars from the same block, and then police say he tried to avoid authorities by hoping in a boat and taking off in the Back Bay.
Patrick Dixon woke up Thursday morning to find his wife's car had been stolen.
"I don't think he went too far," Dixon said.
Dixon's car was found a few miles away, covered in mud, there was no damage to it.
Dixon found two sheets of paper left in the car. One was the beginning of an apology letter.
The full version is being kept as evidence by police.
"I'm sorry for the trouble, I'm just trying to survive," Dixon said.
"Did that make you feel any differently seeing that?" Dixon was asked.
"I mean I didn't really know what to think after I saw that it was just sitting on the seat with the key on top of it," Dixon replied.
Chesapeake Police then found Bowyer wandering around Blackwater Road, and not knowing what had happened earlier gave him a ride.
Chesapeake Police brought Bowyer back to Pocahontas Club Road. Virginia Beach police say the man then stole a second car and drove it across the state line to Knotts Island, North Carolina and that is where things get even stranger.
A Currituck County Deputy tried to pull Bowyer over, but he got away.
Police say he left the stolen car in a ditch and tried to escape in the Back Bay in a boat that happened to be owned by a Virginia Beach police officer.
The problem was, the boat's steering cable broke the week before, so Bowyer didn't get very far.
A mile into his voyage he had to abandon ship. A fisherman spotted the abandoned boat, while two others pulled Bowyer out of the water. He was arrested and taken into custody. It seems he left his pen and paper on land.
There was no apology letter left in the boat.
