MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Police arrested a southwest Miami-Dade man on a felony charge and cited three others after a group of boaters were caught on camera trashing an island in Biscayne National Park last month.
Local 10 News first showed you the video in mid-November.
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A disgusted boater, Nicholas Rey, witnessed the group of litterbugs trashing the protected site on Nov. 13 after a day of partying on their boats and jet skis and took video of the men involved.
Miami-Dade police arrested Yordani Serrano-Pereda, 43, on Wednesday evening. He now faces a charge of willful disregard for the environment, a third-degree felony under Florida law.
Officials say he was seen in a blue shirt and straw hat dumping an empty propane tank and “multiple garbage bags” on Ragged Keys, a protected island within Biscayne National Park.
They also issued civil citations for littering to three other men:
- Yoan Serrano-Pereda, 45, of southwest Miami-Dade
- Dariel Nunez, 45, of northwest Miami-Dade
- Luis Martinez-Ramirez, 63, of southwest Miami-Dade
In an arrest report, investigators with MDPD’s Illegal Dumping Unit wrote that they were able to identify the suspects after Rey captured video showing the vessels’ registration numbers.
Police said Yordani Serrano-Pereda admitted he was the man captured on video dumping the propane tanks and garbage bags.
He could face a $50,000 fine and up to five years in prison.
“It is our responsibility to protect our beautiful environment, and I remain committed to work tirelessly with our local and federal partners and our State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle in the fight against environmental crimes,” MDPD Director Freddy Ramirez said in a news release.
Yoan Serrano-Pereda, Nunez and Martinez-Ramirez each face a $1,000 fine.
Local 10 News Environmental Advocate Louis Aguirre contributed to this report.