Shocking way mysterious Russian man who stole huge yacht entered United States

Daily Mail​

07-05-2025

The Russian national who tried to flee from police on a stolen yacht was granted asylum in the United States under the Biden administration, authorities have revealed.
Nikolai Vilkov was arrested Monday in Florida 's Hobe Sound. The 29-year-old was seen cowering at the bow of the $2 million yacht as three rifle-bearing SWAT members with the Martin County Sheriff's Office approached him.
The moment, right out of an action movie, came after a prolonged boat chase with police that ended with them catching up to Vilkov.
Officers threw tear gas onto the vessel, shouted commands for Vilkov to come out. Eventually the gas forced him out on to the deck so he could be put in cuffs, WPBF reported.
As authorities try to piece together Vilkov's life story, many things remain unclear, such as how he returned the US after it was shown that he left the country in April 2024 on a flight back to Russia.
What is clear is that Vilkov, who is now suspected to be involved in some sort of smuggling operation, originally entered the US somewhere along the Texas-Mexico border on December 13, 2022.
It is not known what reason he gave to seek asylum, but this was a time when a record number of migrants were surging to the southern border.
US Customs and Border Protection reported a staggering 179,253 encounters in December 2022, whereas in March 2025, that number dropped to 11,000.
In a press conference on Tuesday Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said Vilkov and his family flew from Turkey to Mexico in November 2022.
A month later, Vilkov, along with his wife and child, entered the country.
Budensiek admitted that his office knows little about his activities after that, though he did say Vilkov had a driver's license listing an address in Charlotte, North Carolina.
On April 30, 2024, the family of three flew back to Russia. It is not clear how or when he made it back to Jupiter, Florida, where police said he was spotted at 1am on Monday parking a Tesla.
Shortly after that at around 2:10am, Jupiter police allege that Vilkov stole a towboat from a company located just north of West Palm Beach.
The towboat, not the same boat as the 68-foot yacht he allegedly swiped later that day, got stuck on a sandbar near the Jupiter inlet, authorities said.
Jupiter police made contact with Vilkov and began questioning him, but they did not have enough evidence at the time to connect him to the stolen towboat.
He walked free and there were no reported sightings of him from 3am until 1pm, when cops say he was seen talking with people at Tiki 52 Bar & Grill near Blowing Rocks Marina.
Witnesses told police they saw Vilkov getting on and off a yacht from 1pm to 3:55pm.
The dockmaster at Blowing Rocks Marina called 911 at 3:55pm to report the stolen yacht and inform police the suspect was heading north.
Budensiek explained that authorities made contact with the yacht's owner, who said the boat was not supposed to be out at sea.
That is when officers with the Martin County Sheriff's Office, Florida Fish & Wildlife and the Jupiter Island Police Department got into boats and began chasing down the yacht.
'They locked onto the boat, realized that they were at extreme tactical disadvantage. We're talking about a three-story, 68-foot yacht, and our vessels with one or two marine officers were not suited to safely take those individuals into custody,' Budensiek said at the press conference.
The chase lasted for more than six miles and almost came to a horrific end at the Hobe Sound Bridge.
Police ordered the draw bridge closed so Vilkov could not pass and would be boxed in. But when he got close to hitting it, they were forced to open it, allowing the pursuit to continue.
Eventually, Vilkov got stuck in shallow water and was unable to maneuver the large ship, allowing officers to pounce.
'They came up with a plan of beaching the suspect vessel, the stolen vessel, which they did, and that consisted of multiple boats, smaller boats, powering heavily against the side of the stolen vessel and pushing it into the mangroves where it was disabled,' Budensiek said.
Once the yacht was paralyzed, SWAT teams converged, deployed tear gas and got Vilkov to walk out on to the front deck.
'Gas was deployed, and he eventually did come out and work his way to the front deck where SWAT operators took him into custody,' Budensiek said.
Things only got stranger once they arrested Vilkov, who claimed to not speak much English, despite witnesses saying they conversed with him just fine that day.
'We do know that he interacted with Jupiter police earlier in the day. We know he interacted with people in the docks, so we don't really believe him in that regard,' Budensiek said.
Police ultimately requested assistance from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security. DHS provided a translator so Vilkov could communicate in Russian.
'During the interview, our suspect was caught in a multitude of lies. He, in our opinion, tried to feign that he was insane for a bit, and then he could answer questions that were more complex,' Budensiek said.
It remains unclear why Vilkov allegedly stole the towboat or the yacht. He admitted to stealing the yacht in a police interview but offered no motive.
With no real answers, Budensiek suggested that Vilkov could be part of a smuggling operation while also stressing that it was 'a theory only.'
'What we see here in South Florida is smuggling ventures. We know right now that the Texas border is locked down tight, the Mexican border is locked down tight, and we are expecting an influx of immigrant landings here in Florida,' he said.
Vilkov was headed toward the St Lucie Inlet, approximately 14 miles away from where the yacht had originally been docked.
'A theory, not necessarily a true theory, but a theory is this vessel was being stolen and moved to the Bahamas for a smuggling venture, but we have not been able to verify that,' the sheriff added, stating that he has personally seen boats stolen in Florida end up as far away as the Bahamas.
Vilkov is being held without bond in jail on charges of grand theft of a motor vehicle, aggravated fleeing and eluding, and resisting arrest without violence.
More charges are expected to be heaped on by Jupiter police in relation to his alleged theft of the towboat.
Vilkov has no prior convictions in the US, but police stressed that they do not yet know if he has a criminal history in other countries.
An immigration detainer has been filed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which means Vilkov will be deported back to Russia as soon as he is finished with the criminal justice process in Martin County, regardless of whether that results in him being acquitted or serving a prison sentence.
DailyMail.com has approached Homeland Security, ICE and the Martin County Sheriff's office for any further information related to the ongoing investigation.