Second arrest made after video showed mass balloon-popping at a Coconut Grove marina
A second person has been arrestedafter a video shared on Instagram showed people popping dozens of balloons and letting pieces fall in the bay at a Coconut Grove marina.
Ten people and companies — including event organizers and the owner of a yacht — were slapped with citations and fined over $25,000, according to Miami-Dade police.
On Friday, police said Martina Gaspoz, 26, of Miami, was charged with a felony of willful disregard for the environment. She told police “she felt ashamed of what they had done,” according to her arrest report.
On Thursday, David Torres-Bocanegra, 29, of Homestead was arrested after police said he popped about 50 balloons Tuesday on a yacht docked at Bayshore Landing Marina, 2550 S. Bayshore Dr.
Torres-Bocanegra later confessed, according to his arrest report. He is facing a felony charge of reckless disregard for the environment. He posted a $500 bond and has since been released.
Balloons can be mistaken for food by sea turtles, and if eaten, can lead to internal injury, starvation and death, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. They can also be harmful to other marine life.
“As a community, we share the responsibility to protect our environment”, Miami-Dade police interim Director George A. Perez said Thursday in a news release. “Our coastal waterways are the natural beauty of our county, and our marine life depend on us to keep them safe.”
A marriage proposal gone wrong
The balloon-popping incident happened after a marriage proposal, according to PRC Cloud Nine, an event planning business. On an Instagram post Wednesday, the company said it was not in charge of removing the balloons from the yacht and that it will no longer use them at events near the water.
“We are sorry for the situation we were involved in, and we are aware now of the damage it generated to our environment,” the company wrote.
A copy of one of the citations provided by police shows that the company received a $2,500 civil violation notice for illegal dumping on a waterway in connection to the incident.
The company’s president, Iuliia Tyshchenko, and its vice president, Viacheslav Diadiura, each received a $2,500 civil violation notice as well.
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Others cited were: HD2 Yacht Service 3 Maintenance, the company contracted to charter the vessel; Tulio Manases Capriles Mendoza; Francisco Jesus Feo Mendoza, the person in charge of the charter company; Gabriela A. Castillo, coordinator of the event; Dessideria D. Caro de Capriles, owner of the yacht; and Torres-Bocanegra himself.
PRC Cloud Nine did not respond to the Miami Herald’s request for comment.
Balloon-popping video goes viral
The investigation into the incident began after footage was shared on social media, according to authorities.
Esteban Bruna, a yacht broker, said he was moving a client’s vessel around 4:15 p.m., Tuesday when he saw several people popping dozens of decorative balloons at the bow of another yacht, allowing pieces to fall into Biscayne Bay.
As pieces continued to drop, Bruna shouted to get the attention of the balloon poppers.
“My initial reaction was to kind of shout at them to try to put an end to it but that didn’t work,” he said Wednesday before the arrest. “I was ignored.”
That’s when Bruna started recording the problem with a cellphone.
In the video, at least two people can be seen rapidly popping dozens of decorative balloons at the bow of the vessel. As they were popped, pieces fell in the water. In a second video, even more pieces can be seen floating near the boat as most of the balloons had already been popped.
Hours later, he uploaded the footage to Instagram.
Bruna said he posted the video to raise awareness, and that the balloon poppers should be held accountable.
“I just want people to be responsible boaters,” he said. “There is only one ocean, we have to preserve it the best way we can.”
Miami Herald staff writer Carli Teproff contributed to this report.
This story was originally published May 11, 2022 at 4:49 PM.
