The Barefoot Bandit: The True Tale of Colton Harris-Moore, New American Outlaw

About this book

The Barefoot Bandit tells the riveting true story of Colton Harris-Moore Americas twenty-first-century outlaw. Born into a poor family marred by alcohol abuse Colt had the local sheriff after him before the age of ten. Colt survived by breaking into homes to forage for food and learned to evade the police by melting into the Pacific Northwest wilds. As a teenager he escalated to stealing cars boats and identities. An extensive manhunt finally caught Colt but he escaped juvenile prison and fled to nearby Orcas Island where he assured his place alongside outlaw legends such as D. B. Cooper by stealing an airplane without ever having a formal flight lesson. And that was just the beginning. As a resident of Orcas Island author Bob Friel witnessed firsthand as local police FBI agents SWAT teams and even Homeland Security helicopters pursued Colt around the island. Colts crime spree infuriated and terrified many locals while others sympathized with the barefoot young criminal-the controversy tearing at the formerly quiet community. The story gained international fame with Time calling Colt "Americas Most Wanted Teen" when he stole and crashed his third airplane. After more than two years on the run in the Northwest Colt fled Orcas and began a spectacular cross-country trek. Friel followed the Barefoot Bandit all the way to the Bahamas where the chase finally ended in a hail of gunfire at 3 a.m. on a dark sea. Through his personal experiences and hundreds of interviews with witnesses victims local authorities Colts family and indirectly Colt himself Friel gives readers an exclusive look at an outlaw legend. Set against the backdrop of the Pacific Northwests evergreen islands where Internet millionaires coexist with survivalists and ex-hippies this is a gripping stranger-than-fiction tale about a neglected and troubled child who outfoxed the authorities gained a cult following and made the world take notice.