Two Florida men are facing criminal charges, accused of breaking into an aquarium last year and pulling out a fish that ended up dying.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said that Christopher Jeffrey Smith, 20, taken into custody Wednesday, and Derrick Lee Vivian, 25, arrested in November, broke into Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters in Marathon, 115 miles southwest of Miami, at around 2:50 a.m. on May 25.
The sheriff’s office accused Mr. Smith, a Marathon resident, and Mr. Vivian, of Fort Myers, of fishing in the private lagoon and nabbing a 55-inch tarpon.
The pair then posed for pictures with the captured fish before throwing it back into the water, the sheriff’s office said.
Employees at the aquarium later found the tarpon dead, and the sheriff’s office began its investigation. Mr. Smith and Mr. Vivian appeared on security footage from inside the facility, and the sheriff’s office obtained warrants for their arrest.
The suspects are charged with burglary and removing a tarpon greater than 40 inches long from the water. The latter charge is a conservation offense and a misdemeanor, according to Naples’ WZVN-TV.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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