Hotel worker was driving in a ‘reckless manner,’ Florida cops say. Along came the birds

A man has been accused of violence against endangered birds in Marco Island, authorities said.

Marco Island police officers were dispatched to the beach at a little after 1 p.m. Monday, according to a news release. They were responding to reports about a golf cart being driven in a “reckless manner” in front of the JW Marriott hotel on Collier Boulevard.

The person behind the wheel, a hotel employee, had “intentionally” run over and killed five black skimmers, a state endangered species, the release said.

According to a police report obtained by the Miami Herald Wednesday, a witness told officers he had seen a person run over a flock of birds nesting on the beach. The witness directed them to the water’s edge to observe the dead animals, which lay next to “visible tire marks in the sand,” according to the complaint.

A Marriott manager said that the hotel was aware of the incident and that the employee, Renardo Stewart, 24, had been suspended and already sent home. The server at Quinn’s restaurant for 14 months was ordered to return to the scene. Stewart was placed in handcuffs and placed in the back of the patrol car, and detained. Officers cited him for killing an endangered species.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, the seabird gets its name because of its large red and black bill that “skims” along the top of the water to catch fish. Other defining characteristics include a black back and wings with white edging, and white belly and head.

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“This striking combination, coupled with the brightly colored bill, makes it easy to spot the birds as they hunt over the water or loaf on the beach with other seabirds and shorebirds,” writes the FWC, which is handling the investigation.

“Beaches are popular places in Florida so there are very, very few places for these birds to rest and gain weight for the breeding season,” Brad Cornell, spokesman for Audubon Florida, told local TV station NBC 2. “It’s heartbreaking to see the unnecessary death of these threatened species.”

Cornell added that one of the five killed had been tagged for researchers from Eckerd College in the Tampa Bay area.

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Marriott said in a statement that the hotel is “cooperating fully” with the investigation and “taking steps internally to address this serious matter.”