Mounted cop patrols clear spring breakers off Florida beach so workers can clear the trash

Mounted cop patrols have been spotted clearing spring breakers off Fort Lauderdale’s shoreline so workers can clear mountains of trash left behind with bottles, cups and can left littering the beach. 

Thousands of college students and partygoers were seen partying through the night and left behind hordes of garbage in what’s expected to be the largest spring break ever as Covid continues to fizzle out. 

Workers in high-vis jackets were seen picking up piles of bottles and cans from the shoreline in a bid to preserve the health of sea turtles and try and keep Florida‘s ocean clean. 

Garbage trashed the shoreline from South Pointe pier to the Second Street lifeguard stand after just one day on the beach. 

And local volunteers want action to be taken against those who left the beach with no regard for cleanliness. 

The founder of Clean This Beach Up, an initiative created to keep shorelines clean, told Local 10: ‘I honestly cried… Seeing the amount of trash and the kids leaving with no remorse just broke my heart.’

But Maria Algarra believes that the litter was actually left from Miami school students who had skipped school for an unauthorized senior skip day. 

She added: ‘There is no excuse for what they did.’  

Littering on Miami Beach is illegal. A first offense imposes a $1,500 fine. The second offense is $2,500 and a third offense is a whopping $3,500, but it’s rarely if ever enforced because litterers need to be caught in the act. 

But activists say that more needs to be done to engage with the young people on beaches and to educate them about clearing their trash. 

And the city has now created a collaborative initiative to get to beachgoers before they even get to the shorelines.  

Volunteers will join park rangers on the sand during spring break weekends to encourage those visiting to be responsible with their trash and leave no trace of their visit. 

Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach police departments have revealed they have increased the number of police officers patrolling tourist hotspots during the break this year and many will be working overtime.   

While 2020 saw a dismal 1,500 people a day flying to Florida and 2021 saw a crowd of about 65,000 Spring Breakers, the Tampa Bay Times estimated that 570,000 students will be on holiday in the Sunshine State to party on the beaches this year.

The most hectic period of Spring Break, which is expected to last until March 20, comes as six college students, five of whom are West Point cadets, overdosed on fentanyl-laced cocaine last Thursday. 

Revelers could be seen chugging alcohol, shotgunning beers and drinking from beer bongs dressed in bikinis and bathing suits.

Others were spotted playing ball games in the water, while a group of young men ran football drills to a large crowd on Fort Lauderdale Beach. 

Young women also got in on the wrestling action, with two women pictured trying to take one another down to the sandy floor of Fort Lauderdale Beach.

The crowds around them cheered and filmed the playful moment between the two women in blue bikinis moment on their phones with many looking on with an open mouth in disbelief.  

More inventive spring breakers created a beer pong table out of sand, while students from Michigan, Indiana, Texas, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Ohio, and New Jersey, amongst others partook in Spring Break on Fort Lauderdale Beach over the weekend. 

On Sunday, it was reported four men had been found unresponsive at a Fort Lauderdale property, according to Local10. They were hospitalized, and it is unclear if they were spring breakers, or what had caused their illness, which came days after five West Point cadets overdosed on fentanyl. 

Meanwhile, Cafe Ibiza, a bar right off of the Fort Lauderdale beach, offered bottomless mimosas to the spring break crowd. 

DailyMail.com cameras were also in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday night where young people were enjoying the revelry at Rock Bar and the Floridian Restaurant, among several hotspots. 

Many weren’t just celebrating Spring Break but also donning traditional green to toast the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day. 

Miami beaches were absolutely packed on on Tuesday as throngs of students soaked up the sun and kicked off the weekend. 

This year, Fort Lauderdale officials are readying themselves by enforcing safety measures into place before the expected arrival of Spring Breakers from all across the country, starting this weekend.

Police and fire rescue officials in Fort Lauderdale, often dubbed as ‘Spring Break Central,’ told reporters at a news conference on Friday that they expect to reach unprecedented levels since the coronavirus pandemic.

‘We absolutely expect at least double if not triple what we saw last year as far as attendance,’ Fort Lauderdale Police Maj. Bill Schultz told NBC Miami. 

Schultz added that the city is already welcoming a good amount of ‘early birds’ and that it is ready to anticipate the arrival of many more partygoers over the next few weeks, starting with this upcoming weekend’s surge.

AAA Tampa spokesman Mark Jenkins said that while AAA does not track Spring Break travel, the organization has seen an surge in travel for the event. 

‘People are feeling more confident about taking a trip and that’s really what we’re seeing on bookings,’ Jenkins told ABC Tampa. 

‘AAA travel bookings right now are much stronger than they were this time last year so we’re expecting a very strong Spring Break season,’ Jenkins explained.  

The upgraded security around tourist areas was key in the quick response after six students overdosed on cocaine laced with fentanyl on Thursday night, including five West Point cadets.  

Two of the cadets had not ingested the drugs but were overcome by the effects of fentanyl when they attempted to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on their sickened friends, Orlando Sun-Sentinel first reported on Friday.  

DailyMail.com reached to the U.S. Army Academy at West Point and was told by a representative that the college was ‘aware’ of the incident in Florida involving its students. 

‘The U.S. Military Academy is aware of the situation involving West Point cadets, which occurred Thursday night in Wilton Manors, FL,’ a West Point spokesperson said in an email. ‘The incident is currently under investigation and no other details are available at this time.’ 

News helicopter video shows paramedics converging on the front yard of a short-term vacation rental home on NW 29th Court in Wilton Manors, where multiple people were found in cardiac arrest at 5 p.m. Thursday.  

Footage from the scene shows first responders administering first aid and placing several individuals onto stretchers. 

Fort Lauderdale Fire Department Battalion Chief Steve Gollan told Local10 that two of the people who overdosed were sickened because they tried to perform CPR on the initial four overdose victims. He said the opioid-overdose-reversing drug naloxone, which is sold under the brand name Narcan, was administered to revive the victims.

Four of the patients were taken to Broward Health Medical Center, and the remaining two were transported to Holy Cross Hospital.

By Friday, one of the patients had been released from the hospital, two remained in critical condition after being intubated, and three were in stable condition. 

A suspect believed to be connected to the incident was arrested in Florida, police confirmed to WSVN Friday night. It is also unclear if the suspect was staying at the rental property with the Spring Breakers.

Source: Daily Mail