'Barefoot Bandit' Busted: Arrest Draws Cheers, Sympathy
Security at Bahamas marina said Colton Harris-Moore afraid of being killed.
July 12, 2010— -- This weekend's arrest of "Barefoot Bandit" Colton Harris-Moore drew big cheers in the Pacific Northwest where some of his alleged victims had spent two years waiting for justice and shaking their heads at the throngs of fans that supported the 19-year-old fugitive.
"It's great. It's exciting," said Orcas Island, Wash., business owner Kyle Ater, believed to be a 'Barefoot Bandit' victim. "He looks pretty pitiful now, being led away in handcuffs."
Harris-Moore is awaiting a court hearing in a Bahamian jail cell after his years on the run came ended Sunday with a high-speed boat chase and police shoot-out, during which Harris-Moore appeared to consider killing himself before surrendering to authorities.
Ater, said he was gathering produce on Sunday for his store "and phone calls start pouring in."
"He needs to pay for the crimes he's committed," said Ater, who believes Harris-Moore broke into his Homegrown Market & Gourmet Delicatessen on Feb. 11. "It would be nice if they would extradite him and send him back."
Legal experts say Harris-Moore will likely be extradited to the United States after he faces charges in the Bahamas.
The Associated Press today quoted Bahamian Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade as saying that Harris-Moore would stand trial on weapons possession and other charges, some of them likely to include his suspected involvement in a string of burglaries there.
He is expected to appear in court Tuesday.
Seattle defense attorney John Henry Browne, who said he's been hired by Harris-Moore's mother, did not return messages seeking comment, but told ABC's Seattle affiliate KOMO that he would like to see the numerous local and federal charges against the teen be consolidated in federal court in Seattle.
Browne told the affiliate that he has been in contact with the U.S. consulate in the Bahamas.
