Saskatoon police arrest woman allegedly attempting to steal Prairie Lily riverboat

A woman has been arrested and charged with breaking and entering with “intent to commit theft of a vessel.”

Saskatoon police say they found the woman on the deck of a “river cruise ship” on Wednesday morning. According to a statement from police, it happened around 5 a.m. when officers responded to a report of a woman trying to get into the ship’s cabin.

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When the officers got to the scene, they found the ship “free floating” next to the dock, and the woman trying to open the door to the wheelhouse.

Joan Steckhan, co-owner of the Prairie Lily, confirmed it was her ship, and said this isn’t the first time something like this has happened, although it was unusual for the boat to be floating away.

The Prairie Lily’s co-owner said the ship has seen a few break-in attempts over the years. (The Prairie Lily/Facebook)

“We’ve had a few break-ins. Oddly the most common thing people tend to try and do is break into the wheelhouse,” she said.

“We think that is because they think they’re going to be able to get in and drive the ship away, which is rather odd because it’s not quite that simple.”

Steckhan said she and co-owner Mike Steckhan found out about the would-be pirate through a social media post from “Mike the Beaver Man.”

“He actually let us know that the police were down here (at the ship), and arrested someone that was trying to do something with the ship,” she said.

There was no damage to the ship, but Steckhan said it’s been an odd summer for the Prairie Lily.

“You get people that are unwelcome coming on, people we would like to welcome on and unfortunately we can’t welcome those folks ’cause we still can’t get anyone to remove the sandbars from the river,” she said.

2025 is expected to be the last year of operations for the Prairie Lily, with the Steckhans hoping to retire after the end of the season.