--- title: "Man Arrested for Dropping Chemical Into Swimming Pools Using Drone" description: "A 45-year-old man in New Jersey thought it was hilarious to contaminate nearby pools with packets of Sea Dye using a drone." date: "2023-09-06" modified: "2023-09-06" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/man-arrested-dropping-chemical-swimming-pools-drone" categories: - "Drones" - "Future Society" - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "blue dye" - "drones" - "the digest" --- # Man Arrested for Dropping Chemical Into Swimming Pools Using Drone ![A 45-year-old man in New Jersey thought it was hilarious to contaminate nearby pools with packets of Sea Dye using a drone.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Special Delivery The general manager of a Quality Inn in Absecon, New Jersey, noticed a bizarre trend at her hotel: a mysterious blue substance had seemingly been airdropped into the hotel's pool, causing it to turn a radioactive shade of green. As [*The New York Times* reports](), it wasn't a sudden algae bloom or bacterial infection. It was a 45-year-old man, who thought it was hilarious to use a drone to contaminate nearby pools with packets of Sea Dye, a chemical that colors the water to aid during water rescues. It's a bizarre instance of a prank gone wrong — but as it turns out, it was general manager Sandra Woolstion, who had the last laugh. ## Blue's Clues Woolstion informed Jason Kiamos, a detective at the Galloway Township Police Department, of the situation (the pool turned green for the first time in June). Woolstion and her team had to drain the pool, clean it, and refill it several times over this summer. It didn't take long for the police department to track down a drone flying between the Quality Inn and a nearby business. Patrick Spina, the owner of said business, was arrested and charged with multiple counts of criminal mischief and harassment, Kiamos told the *NYT*. "Sandra, we made the arrest," he wrote Woolstion after taking Spina into custody. And the arrest couldn't have come at a better time. Over the last week alone, Woolstion had to deal with a green pool on two consecutive days. "He was getting too happy with doing it," she told the *NYT*. For now, Woolstion is happy she doesn't have to refill the pool every time, something that has incurred her almost $20,000 in additional costs over the summer. "It was just more than we bargained for," she added. **More on drones:** *[The NYPD Says It's Going to Spy on Labor Day Parties Using Drones]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()