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Thousands of bikini-clad revelers were met by an increased law enforcement presence as they took to the Florida water over the weekend for another year of the infamous boozy Boca Bash.
The party, which is held annually on the last Sunday of April, is a ticket-free event hosted on Lake Boca Raton, located along the Sunshine State’s southeastern coast.
While the bash attracts thousands of rowdy revelers, this year’s party saw a significant law enforcement presence up and down the shores after previous events led to numerous arrests.
“I will say that this year there is definitely a heavy law enforcement presence,” CJ Thomas, a local resident who regularly attends Boca Bash, told WPEC. “This year they really struck down on the boat ramps. So all of the local boat ramps from Delray to Fort Lauderdale are closed.”
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Another local resident, Taylor Thomas, told the outlet that two undercover cops were there.
The City of Boca Raton has no official involvement regarding the sanctioning of the party, a spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital.
However, officials work closely with community partners, such as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), “on public safety, coordination with partner agencies, and providing the appropriate level of enforcement and response to help protect the community,” a city spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
The Boca Raton Police Department confirmed that one individual was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence.
Additionally, preliminary information indicates FWC officers made three arrests over the weekend, two for boating under the influence and one for battery, a spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital. Authorities also responded to six boating collisions that did not result in any serious injuries.
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The move comes after the spring-break-reminiscent event has been marred by tragedy and lawlessness in previous years.
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In 2018, 32-year-old Francis Roselin, of West Palm Beach, drowned while enjoying festivities on the water.
At the time of his death, his friend, Strogoff Prevot, told WPTV that Roselin had fallen behind when their group swam to a sandbar. Law enforcement and Roselin’s friends frantically searched for the missing swimmer, but rescue attempts by Ocean Rescue and the Coast Guard were unsuccessful.
Roselin’s body was later discovered by a swimmer at the bottom of the Intracoastal Waterway, with the Boca Raton Police Department determining he died by drowning.
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Roselin’s girlfriend, Tamekia Rich, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Boca Raton, alleging officials had acted negligently by failing to provide adequate supervision of the water and failing to control the crowd.
However, the city rebutted the allegations, saying that Boca Bash was an unsanctioned event and therefore not hosted by officials.
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Six years later, in 2024, drone video capturing two teenagers hurling two trash cans filled with bottles and other waste over the side of their fishing boat in footage that went viral, leading to outrage both online and within the community.
Video showed the two teens, 15 and 16, speeding away from the event as a trail of garbage was left in their wake.
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The Boca Bash’s Facebook page condemned the incident, writing they were “angered and disturbed by these actions.”
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“Once the video was posted, we quickly got to work with the community to discover who the owner of the boat was and who was on the vessel in this particular instance committing an egregious act,” they wrote.
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The pair of teens ultimately turned themselves in to police and faced third-degree felony charges for causing pollution “so as to harm or injure human health or welfare, animal, plant or aquatic life or property,” the Miami Herald reported.
In a statement to the Palm Beach Post, one of the boy’s parents issued a statement through a spokesperson apologizing for their son’s actions.
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“We take responsibility for caring for our oceans and our community very seriously, and we are extremely saddened by what occurred last weekend at Boca Bash,” the family wrote. “We want to extend our sincerest apologies to everyone who has been impacted and rightfully upset by what occurred.”
Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
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