Before the arrest, an altercation broke out on Scott Burke’s luxury yacht
A heated cat fight broke out just before cops arrested a retired doctor on his luxury yacht docked in Nantucket – after reports that a woman on board may have overdosed.
Scott Anthony Burke, 69, was charged with drug trafficking and weapons trafficking after officers found cocaine, ketamine and prostitutes aboard his 82-foot yacht, the Jess Conn, in Nantucket Harbor.
Police initially responded to a call from a woman who said she had overdosed and wanted to get off Burke’s party yacht.
Local residents said a fight broke out between two women just before authorities reached the ship.
“These two women were screaming at each other,” a local told The Post.
“I think the police could have intervened because … not only was the woman being screened for drugs, but there was apparently a shouting match between a woman on the harbor master’s boat and the launch boat that was bringing both the person back.” or take the person there,” they added.
Officers received a call just before 8 a.m. that a woman aboard the Jess Conn “required medical attention,” police said in a statement Wednesday.
The woman “did not want to be there, was under the influence of narcotics and possibly [had] “Overdose,” a police report states.
According to the police report, the woman was also found in Burke’s bedroom on the luxury boat. Prostitutes were also found on the ship. according to the Nantucket Current.
Burke told officers he was the owner of the boat and that he had a license to carry firearms. However, police concluded that Burke’s only had a transportation license in Florida and it expired in September 2022.
He pleaded not guilty when he appeared in Plymouth District Court for his arraignment on Wednesday.
In the downstairs bedroom of the yacht, investigators found more than 43 grams of cocaine, approximately 14 grams of ketamine, two handguns and other ammunition. reported the Boston Globe.
Burke, who practiced in Colorado before retiring in 2021, now lives in a highly exclusive enclave in Key Largo, Florida, home to the private club Ocean Reef, known for its strict privacy policies.
“They have more money out there than God makes them despair of, and they act like they can do whatever they want,” a longtime resident told The Post on Friday.
Burke founded Denver Spine and Rehab and was CEO of Injury Finance, LLC., a company that provides medical lien services for third-party liability claims.
Nantucket residents said Friday that luxury yachts docking in the harbor is not uncommon, but the amount of drugs and firearms found on the retired doctor’s boat was alarming.
“I mean, there are certainly people who have party boats that bring insanity,” one said. “The weapons side is, in my opinion, the most disturbing part. There is no need for that.”
