Arrest Made in Balloon Littering Investigation at Coconut Grove Marina – NBC 6 South Florida

A man has been arrested after cellphone video captured what seemed to be several boaters popping balloons and letting the trash fall into the water close to a Coconut Grove marina on Tuesday.

The video posted by MMG Outboard Division, a bunch who says they "pride ourselves on defending and spreading consciousness on the beautiful waters we get to call dwelling," was shot just after 4 p.m. at Bayshore Touchdown Marina.

Two folks onboard the boat are seen popping balloons and letting them fall into the water.

"As we passed them and expressed our disagreement, we have been ignored they usually continued popping away with no care on the planet," the group posted in their message.

Miami-Dade police have made an arrest after cellphone video surfaced of individuals on a boat popping balloons into the ocean. NBC 6's Jamie Guirola reviews

Miami-Dade Police said Wednesday night time that they arrested one man and handed out nine civil citations.

The person was identified as 29-year-old David Torres-Bocanegra. He was charged with reckless disregard for the atmosphere.

“As a neighborhood, we share the duty to guard our surroundings," Miami-Dade Police Director George A. Perez stated in a press release. "I am extremely happy with our Illegal Dumping Unit, for his or her thorough investigation and swift conclusion to this case."

David Torres-Bocanegra

Tom Rivas, who rented the boat so he may suggest to his girlfriend, responded to the criticisms on his Instagram stories, saying he was not liable for the balloon popping.

"First off, I want to put my heart out and say how essential it's to guard the environment," he said.

Cloud Nine, an event planning company, also deflected duty in an announcement on Instagram.

"Our balloon vendor adorned the boat and left. We decorated the pier, finished the proposal, and cleaned up like we always do. We're by no means in charge of removing balloon decorations," the assertion learn partly.

Esteban Bruna, a yacht dealer, shot the cellphone video.

"I used to be pretty upset about it, that is our bay, this is our livelihood," Bruna stated. "I used to be here after they have been setting them up and then initially I did not actually assume a lot of it but I assume as the day was executed they usually started popping away and letting all of them go into the water I was shocked."

One witness mentioned the balloons might have been part of a marriage proposal. Bruna mentioned he confronted the folks.

"I mentioned to them,' are you guys critical, is this something you're going to do right now?' [They] sort of just blew me off, ignored me," Bruna stated. "It was horrifying to see what they had been doing to the marine life and the waterways by simply dumping all of these balloons into the water."

Officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Fee mentioned balloons might be mistaken for food by sea turtles and different marine animals, and if eaten, can lead to internal damage, starvation, and dying.

Balloon releases have been unlawful in Florida since 1989.