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St. Pete Hotel, Bar Owners Arrested in Mothball Scheme to Scare Off Nesting Birds, FWC Says
Robert Czyszczon and Christopher Monroe face felony commercial littering charges after officials say the dumping threatened wildlife and public safety.
- On Wednesday, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials arrested Plaza Beach Hotel owner Robert Czyszczon and Chris's Beachside Bar owner Christopher Monroe for scattering hundreds of toxic mothballs across St. Pete Beach to deter state-threatened black skimmers.
- Investigators allege the men spread chemicals to prevent nesting, fearing the skimmers' presence would cost them between $25,000 and $50,000; text messages revealed Czyszczon and Monroe plotted to disrupt the protected shorebird habitat.
- Surveillance footage and receipts showed Czyszczon purchased "a large quantity of mothballs" before the April incident; investigators also recovered "incriminating text messages" and cellphone tower data placing both men on the beach.
- Both men face "felony commercial littering for the purpose of economic gain and misdemeanor of attempting to take a listed imperiled species." Volunteers from the Audubon Society previously cleared the hazardous chemicals to protect wildlife and beachgoers.
- Pinellas County hosts roughly 10% of the remaining black skimmer population, making the targeted nesting site a critical sanctuary for the state-threatened shorebird. Mothballs contain volatile pesticides that release toxic fumes, posing severe risks to wildlife and humans.
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14 Articles
14 Articles
St. Pete hotel, bar owners arrested in mothball scheme to scare off nesting birds, FWC says
A St. Pete hotel owner has been accused of conspiring with a bar owner to scatter thousands of moth balls on the beach in order to stop a threatened bird species from nesting by their property.
·Tampa, United States
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St. Pete Beach mothballs: Two men arrested in plot to disrupt nesting shorebirds
Two men face criminal charges after state wildlife investigators uncovered a plot to scatter over 1,000 toxic mothballs across St. Pete Beach to disrupt a vital shorebird nesting area.
·Florida, United States
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St. Pete Beach mothball mystery solved; two people charged
·West Palm Beach, United States
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Total News Sources14
Leaning Left1Leaning Right0Center9Last UpdatedBias Distribution90% Center
Bias Distribution
- 90% of the sources are Center
90% Center
C 90%
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