Catfight erupted inside Scott Burke’s luxury yacht before arrest

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By Steven Vago and Marjorie Hernandez

A heated catfight exploded just before cops arrested a retired doctor on his luxury yacht docked in Nantucket — following reports that a woman had possibly overdosed onboard.

Scott Anthony Burke, 69, was slapped with drug-trafficking and weapons charges after officers found cocaine, ketamine and prostitutes on board his 82-foot yacht, the Jess Conn, while it was in Nantucket Harbor.

Cops initially responded to a call from a woman who said she was overdosing and wanted to get off Burke’s party yacht.

Residents said a fight erupted between two women right before authorities got to the vessel.

“These two women were screaming at each other,” a local told The Post.

“I think how the police might’ve gotten involved was … not only was the woman being checked out for drug stuff, but there was a screaming match that evidently occurred between a woman on the harbor master’s boat and the launch boat that was either bringing the person back or taking the person to,” they added.

Law enforcement officials received a call just before 8 a.m. that a woman on board the Jess Conn was “in need of medical assistance,” police said in a statement on Wednesday.

The woman “did not want to be there, was under the influence of narcotics and possibly [had] overdosed,” according to a police report.

The police report also said the woman was found in Burke’s bedroom on the luxury boat. Prostitutes also were found on the vessel, according to the Nantucket Current.

Burke told officers he was the owner of the boat and he had a license to carry firearms. However, cops determined Burke’s was only licensed to carry in Florida and it had expired in September 2022.

He pleaded not guilty when he appeared at the Plymouth District Court for his arraignment Wednesday.

Investigators found more than 43 grams of cocaine, about 14 grams of ketamine, two handguns and other ammunition in the main floor bedroom of the yacht, the Boston Globe reported.

Burke, who practiced in Colorado before retiring in 2021, now lives in an ultra-exclusive Key Largo, Florida, enclave that features the Ocean Reef private club, which is known for its strict privacy policy.

“They have more money than freaking God out there and they act like they can do whatever they want,” a longtime resident told The Post Friday.

Burke founded Denver Spine and Rehab and was the CEO of Injury Finance, LLC., a company providing medical lien services for third-party liability claims.

Nantucket residents on Friday said while luxury yachts docking in its harbor is not uncommon, 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 in craziness,” one said. “The gun side is the most disturbing part, I think. There is no need for that.”