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GLOUCESTER, Mass. (AP) – Two Massachusetts men have been arrested for trying to rob a sailboat with the help of a motor boat flying the iconic “skull-and-crossbones” pirate flag.

The Gloucester Times reports that Scott Stanton, of Gloucester, and Steven Jette, of Ipswich, were arrested Thursday after police said the sailboat owner chased them away.

Gloucester Police Lt. Joseph Aiello said the men boarded the sailboat at a transient mooring early Thursday only to wake the sailboat owner who called the U.S. Coast Guard. The owner told police that the men’s boat was flying the pirates’ black-and-white flag.

Gloucester police later found the motor boat using homeland security cameras.

The men were charged with breaking and entering, threatening to commit a crime and witness intimidation.

It’s unclear if the men had attorneys.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press