Florida Man Steals Airplane, Lands On California Beach

Credit: San Mateo County Sheriff's Office

HALF MOON BAY, California - A Florida man allegedly stole a small airplane and landed it on the beach in Half Moon Bay, California, on Thursday, February 8, 2024.

Around 5 p.m. on Thursday, the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office received a report of a small airplane that landed near or on a beach in Half Moon Bay. 

Responding deputies discovered a small plane intact and unoccupied on the sand, just south of Poplar Beach. 

Deputies say that they later located a man matching the description of the person seen landing and then walking away from the airplane.

During the course of the investigation, deputies learned that the airplane had been stolen from an airport in Palo Alto, California,.

The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office is working with the Palo Alto Police Department on this case, and are jointly investigating the theft and recovery of the airplane.

The Florida man allegedly seen walking away from the airplane has been identified as 50-year-old Luiz Gustavo Aires from Miami. 

Aires was arrested and booked into the Maguire Correctional Facility in Redwood City, California, and charged with violation of California Penal Code 499 (D) - Theft of an airplane.