Miami man arrested after dumping dozens of popped balloons into water

Miami police arrested a man for illegal dumping after a video showed boaters on a yacht popping over 50 balloons and dumping them into the water.  

The individual, David Torres-Bocanegra, 29, was arrested on Wednesday for disposing of the balloons in the ocean—an act that was made illegal in Florida in 1989. He is facing a second-degree misdemeanor, which is punishable by a fine of less than $10,000 or 60 days in prison. 

The Miami-Dade police announced that in addition to the arrest, they issued civil citations totaling more than $25,000 were issued to the other individuals involved. 

🚨ARREST MADE: Our Illegal Dumping Unit has made an arrest in a crime where individuals on a yacht were popping balloons & illegally dumping them into the water. In addition to the arrest, 10 civil citations were issued to the other individuals involved, totaling over $25,000. pic.twitter.com/I1PoA7uo8G

— Miami-Dade Police (@MiamiDadePD) May 12, 2022

A video shared by Miami Maritime group member, Esteban Bruna, shows the people on the boat popping white and golden balloons, the remains of which fell straight into the water. The fragments of the balloons were later seen around the Bayshore Landing marina. 

Welcome to Miami where self-entitled, ignorant, selfish idiots are able to charter a boat, deck it out with balloons that endanger our fragile ecosystem, harm & even kill our marine life, & then have this crew of clowns dispose of balloons by popping them right into the bay. pic.twitter.com/RNa4CHg9s6

— Louis Aguirre (@LOUISAGUIRRE) May 11, 2022

"Gotta love Miami charger boats," says Bruna in the video. "Let’s throw a party, pop every single balloon on the bow of a boat, just right into the water."

The balloons were part of the decoration for a proposal that was made onboard the yacht, police reported. The groom-to-be, Tom Rivas, said he was inside the yacht and did not know how the balloons were being disposed of. 

“We honestly had no idea until we saw the videos,” Rivas posted on Instagram.

Disposing of balloons in the water could potentially pose a threat to the wildlife in the area, including turtles and birds, who confuse the remains with food. 

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