Officers arrest suspect, issue 9 citations

MIAMI – Tom Rivas said he chartered a yacht for an engagement proposal.

Cloud Nine, which specializes in romantic proposals, helped him to plan the event. It all went smoothly. She said, “Yes!” But hours later, the fitness coach’s event was associated with pollution in Biscayne Bay. Officers arrested one suspect and issued nine citations on Wednesday.

“A very special day for us has turned into tons of hate messages,” Rivas wrote on Instagram.

Rivas said he was inside the yacht Tuesday afternoon at the Bayshore Landing Marina in Miami’s Coconut Grove and didn’t see what was happening. A witness recorded a video that showed people on the yacht popping balloons that fell into the water.

“The crew proceeded to remove balloons … We honestly had no idea until we saw the videos,” Rivas wrote on Instagram.

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Local environmentalists were outraged. The deflated latex, mylar, or vinyl balloons float on the surface of the water. Turtles, seabirds, and other marine animals often mistake the material for jellyfish and eat it — or feed it to their young.

A representative of Cloud Nine said the family-owned company had learned a lesson and is committed to no longer using balloons to decorate when events are near the water.

For Rivas’s engagement, Cloud Nine claimed to task a balloon vendor with decorating the yacht.

“We decorated the pier, finished the proposal, and cleaned up as we always do. We are never in charge of removing balloon decorations. Now we are trying to investigate the situation from our side,” the event planner said in a statement.

Authorities announced Wednesday that there was an ongoing investigation after Local 10 News Anchor Louis Aguirre shared the witness video.

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4 p.m.: Reporter Christina Vazquez

6 p.m.: Anchor Louis Aguirre

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Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Emily Hales contributed to this report.