600 Gallon Aquarium Full of Fish Poisoned
Clearwater, FL (US)

Incident Date: Tuesday, Jun 1, 2004
County: Pinellas

Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Jeremey Armstrong

Jeremey Armstrong paid $70 for a blue spotted grouper at the Exotic Aquatics Aquarium Superstore last month, but later returned and saw the same kind of fish, only prettier.

So he wanted a trade: his fish for that fish. When he was told that wasn't possible, that it was beyond the Countryside store's 48-hour return window, he didn't give up, store employees stated.

"At first he seemed price-conscious and intelligent," said customer service representative Steve Belliveau. "When he came back, he said things that alerted me to his unkind nature, such as "You don't want to upset me,' "You want to work with me,' "It's in both sides' best interests to work this out.' "

Then, on June 1, he came back again. He wandered around the store and paused in front of a 600-gallon saltwater tank filled with marine life and allegedly dumped powdered chlorine into the aquarium's filtration system. Then he left.

Within minutes, the aquarium's water was cloudy. Hundreds of delicate sea creatures - exotic coral, starfish, clams, snails, crabs and a few fish - were dead or dying. At least half died before employees even noticed the stink of bleach in the store.

Sheriff's deputies arrested Armstrong, 27, of Port Charlotte, and charged him with cruelty to animals. In what might be Pinellas County's first-ever animal cruelty case involving invertebrates, the damage was serious.

On June 11, 2004, Armstrong was being held without bail at the Pinellas County Jail. In addition to the animal cruelty charge, he also faced a charge of violating his probation on a Sarasota County charge of credit card fraud.

While the store's owner and employees were still getting over their shock at what happened, they were gratified that Armstrong had been charged.

References

• « FL State Animal Cruelty Map
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