The U.S. Coast Guard responded to reports of a possible fire on the yacht of retired doctor Scott Burke, who was arrested last week after being caught with guns, drugs and prostitutes aboard the boat off Nantucket.
According to the New York Posta fisherman heard the alarm go off on Sunday evening and laughed about it.
“We were like, ‘Oh, he’s burning the evidence!’ said the source. “Oh, he’s going to get in trouble, so he’ll burn the evidence and we’ll come back and he’ll have blown up the boat in the harbor and it’ll be a nightmare.”
The Coast Guard, stationed around Nantucket, confirmed they were dispatched to the Jess Conn, Burke’s luxury ship, around 4 p.m. after a woman called to report a fire after seeing smoke.
The retired doctor was arrested last week aboard his luxury yacht in Nantucket Harbor with drugs, sex workers and weapons
On Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard responded to reports of a possible fire on Burke’s yacht
However, officials quickly concluded that the smoke was just the boat’s exhaust.
It was “nothing unusual,” authorities told the newspaper.
The retired doctor’s yacht remains anchored in Nantucket Harbor nearly a week after police discovered a handful of drugs, weapons and sex workers on board after responding to a report of a woman overdosing.
Since then, Burke employees have been banned from disembarking on the Nantucket mainland.
Burke posted $200,000 bail after pleading not guilty to drug and gun trafficking charges during an arraignment in Plymouth District Court.
A longshoreman told the New York After that someone from Burke’s boat was “trying to get sandwiches or something like that off the island.”
“They tried to come to the marina and we told them to leave,” the anonymous employee said.
One local resident said the drug charges, and even the sex workers found on board the boat, were not necessarily unusual for the island: ‘Everyone does that. He was arrested, that’s all,” the 61-year-old told the post.
“The weapons (are) a whole different story,” the source added.
Burke, 69, a married father of two, retired in 2021 after years of running a successful spine and rehabilitation clinic in Colorado.
He now resides primarily at the exclusive Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo, Florida.
The Coast Guard and Nantucket police have launched an investigation after a woman was taken off the ship, named Jess Conn, following a ‘wellness check’
Photos obtained by DailyMail.com appear to show Dr. Scott Burke (right) spent the holidays with his wife Ellen, 65, and two children Jessica and Connor on a similar boat in 2017 – dubbed the Jess Conn
The retired doctor was arrested on board the luxury yacht early last Tuesday morning. On Sunday, Nantucket officers said he was released after posting his $200.00 bail.
In Massachusetts, bail must be paid in full.
Burke posted bail at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility one day after his arrest on the 80-foot Jess Conn yacht.
Local dock workers and fishermen said they have since seen people chilling aboard the medical yacht, which has been anchored in Nantucket Harbor since Tuesday.
It is not clear whether Burke is one of them or whether he has left the island.
“There are people on the boat, but I don’t know who they are,” one fisherman said this weekend.
‘Yesterday I saw two men… They were just sitting in the back, wearing hats and glasses. Just two people sitting in the shade.”
Burke and his crew were arrested Tuesday morning after police were alerted to a woman on the boat who needed medical attention after suffering a possible overdose on board.
Responding emergency personnel took the woman to a nearby hospital and promptly discovered approximately 14 grams of ketamine, 43 grams of cocaine, a loaded 9mm pistol, a .380 pistol and magazines with 30 rounds of ammunition on board.
According to the police report, the floor of the boat’s bedroom was also littered with loose ammunition.
Law enforcement sources confirmed that other contraband was found in addition to the weapons, drugs and prostitutes, but did not elaborate.
After police handcuffed him, Burke admitted to owning the weapons and told officers where other weapons were stored aboard the ship.
Law enforcement officials wrote in their report, “Scott Burke does not possess a valid (carry permit) or (firearm identification) card.”
As a result of the arrest, Burke was charged with one count of trafficking a Class B drug, one count of possession to distribute a Class A drug, one count of possession of ammunition without a license and four counts of possession of a large capacity medicine. power supply device.
Law enforcement sources told the Nantucket Current that sex workers were discovered aboard the boat during the raid.
The doctor, who also owns a $2.3 million mansion in Englewood, Colorado, appears to have named the ship after his children.
The Jess Conn arrived in Nantucket Harbor on August 23 after a voyage from Newport, Rhode Island.
The retired doctor, who set up a health insurance company where both his children work, appears to have previously practiced several other trades. Pictured: Scott Burke (right)
Law enforcement sources confirmed that other contraband was found in addition to the guns, drugs and prostitutes, but did not elaborate.
The luxury yacht was designed by Jeff Leishman and has four decks of over 24 meters each.
It has three large guest cabins, an owner’s cabin, a laundry room, a large salon and a formal dining room.
The yacht also has a hot tub on board and can accommodate up to eight guests and accommodation for two crew members.