Siege and celebration
Anna Maria Island Privateers find Anna Maria Mayor Mike Selby hiding under the desk in his city hall office Jan. 3. The mayor was taken hostage until the city and its citizens met a series of demands — cash, a key to the city and a proclamation giving the krewe free reign during its 40th anniversary year. Islander Photos: Lisa Neff

About 40 hostile pirates invaded Anna Maria Jan. 3 at 4:30 p.m., surrounding city hall and taking prisoner Mayor Mike Selby.

The pirates found the mayor hiding under his desk, but it did him no good as they quickly grabbed him and dragged him from the building.

Selby was shackled to the mast of the pirate ship Skullywag and not released until a ransom was paid to the krewe by the concerned Anna Maria citizens who gathered to hear the pirate demands.

Along with the ransom, the krewe of the Anna Maria Island Privateer’s demanded a key to the city and a city commission decree giving them full right to plunder and pillage the city this year.

The invasion was all in good fun and for a worthy cause, as the Privateers opened its 40th anniversary year.

The Anna Maria invasion was organized by Privateer Tim “Hammer” Thompson, who encouraged the citizens of Anna Maria to come forward and donate toward the ransom for their mayor to spare him more agony.

While waiting for a suitable sum for ransom, pirate Deby “Hun” Kuederle and “Fox” Smith gave Selby 40 lashes just to remind him to behave and get the commission moving on the decree.

The mayor’s cries must have touched the hearts of the estimated 80 people in attendance, as more bills quickly appeared in the Privateers’ collection hats.

Finally, after several cannon shots over the city and Privateer threats of more damage and arrests, Selby was released and produced the required decree, signed by Vice-Mayor Chuck Webb, certified by city clerk Alice Baird and read by Commissioner John Quam.

The decree announced more “shenanigans” on the Island from the Privateers this year, including invasions and arrests of Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach dignitaries.

Roger “Hoodat” Murphree accepted the decree on behalf of the Privateers, but declined to say when the next invasion would take place.

“That’s for us to know, and they’ll find out when it happens,” Murphree roared as he waved his pirate sword to the terror of the crowd.

Hammer said 42 other pirate events are on the group’s 2011 calendar, and the goal is to raise $40,000 to “give away to Island students as college scholarships.”

The Anna Maria invasion raised about $400, according to the krewe’s tabulation.

After receiving the decree, Thompson said it was time to “eat, drink and be merry” and to give the Privateers “a little rum,” even if they didn’t have a permit for alcoholic beverages. Thompson said they didn’t need one, “We’re pirates and we own the city today.”

Along with the grog provided by the Privateers, a number of Anna Maria restaurants donated food to feed the hungry krewe and attendees.

Those included the Waterfront Restaurant, Rotten Ralph’s, the City Pier Restaurant, Slim’s Place, Feeling Swell, Anna Maria General Store and the Sandbar Restaurant. Legacy Wholesale of Bradenton also donated to the feast.

Entertainment was provided by guitarist/singer Mike Sales.

Anna Maria Mayor Mike Selby presents Roger “Hoodat” Murphree with a key to the city as Tim “Hammer” Thompson, chair of the Privateers’ 40th anniversary committee, looks on.

The Privateers lead Mayor Mike Selby from city hall to their ship, where he was held for ransom.

The Anna Maria Island Privateers burnish their weapons as Anna Maria Mayor Mike Selby stands shackled to the Skullywag mast.

Roger “Hoodat” Murphree, left, and Tim “Hammer” Thompson make their demands for the release of captured Anna Maria Mayor Mike Selby outside city hall Jan. 3.

Anna Maria Mayor Mike Selby is the Privateers’ first hostage of 2011.

Anna Maria city clerk Alice Baird protects the whereabouts of the mayor as the Privateers arrive at city hall Jan. 3.

The Anna Maria Island Privateers arrive at Anna Maria City Hall Jan. 3, where the krewe took a hostage — Mayor Mike Selby — for ransom.

Marie Selby, right, joins a crowd that includes Anna Maria city hall personnel, elected officials and others in observing a presentation to the Anna Maria Island Privateers on Jan. 3.

The crowd for the Anna Maria Island Privateers’ first capture of the krewe’s 40th anniversary year.

Anna Maria City Commissioner Jo Ann Mattick and Marie Selby watch as the Anna Maria Island Privateers drift into the city hall parking lot.

The Privateers stand guard over their hostage, Anna Maria Mayor Mike Selby.

David “Tattoo” Ambut ushers the Privateers from the Skullywag.

Anna Maria city clerk Alice Baird offers treasure from city hall to the Privateers.

Roger “Hoodat” Murphree shows off his treasure from city hall.

Anna Maria City Commissioner John Quam reads a proclamation during the Anna Maria Island Privateers’ siege at city hall Jan. 3.

Anna Maria Island Privateer Tim “Hammer” Thompson handcuffs the mayor on the Skullywag.

Anna Maria residents Robert and Nicola Hunt filed a lawsuit Dec. 17 in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court seeking to overturn the city’s approval of a Pine Avenue Restoration LLC site plan for 308 Pine Ave.

PAR is a company that has been developing retail-office-residential complexes in the city’s ROR district since 2007.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of a motion by William and Barbara Nally of Spring Avenue for an immediate judgment in their favor in their lawsuit against the city for approval of a PAR site plan for 216 Pine Ave.

A hearing on the Nally lawsuit, filed in March 2010, was scheduled for Dec. 23, but was rescheduled to Jan. 11 by attorney Dan Lobeck of the Sarasota law firm of Lobeck & Hanson, P.A.

Attorney Mark Hanson of the Lobeck & Hanson firm represents the Hunts, who live on Lakeview Drive.

The Hunts filed their lawsuit Dec. 17, but it was only presented to the city Jan. 5.

The Hunts claim the city’s actions and decisions in approving the site plan are “inconsistent” with the city’s comprehensive plan, and the project, if built, would affect their “health, safety and welfare.”

In addition, the Hunts claim the development units configured in the retail-office-residential district exceeds the requirements in the comprehensive plan.

They have requested the court vacate and reverse the city’s decision, award them costs and expenses and grant “other relief” as the court deems appropriate.

City attorney Jim Dye said the grounds the Hunts cited in their suit are similar to those of the Nallys, who allege the city’s approval of the PAR site plan for 216 Pine Ave. is inconsistent with the comprehensive plan and land-development regulations.

Both lawsuits claim the city’s method of determining density in the retail-office-residential district is inconsistent with the comprehensive plan.

Further, the Hunts allege the parking arrangement for the 308 Pine Ave. site plan is unsafe.

Twelfth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Peter Dubensky is presiding over both cases.

Anna Maria city clerk Alice Baird said Jan. 7 that the city had not yet been served with the Hunts lawsuit, but had received a copy from Dye.

Baird said the formal procedure is for a process server to present the lawsuit to the mayor or city clerk and obtain a signature.

Hunts challenge lost

The Hunts already have lost one challenge to the city’s method of computing density in the ROR, the area along both sides of Pine Avenue and from Pine Avenue south on several lots on each side of Gulf Drive to Palmetto Avenue.

In July 2010, the Florida Department of Community Affairs ruled against a complaint filed by the Hunts in February 2010 that the city’s density calculations in the ROR were inconsistent with its comp plan. The Hunts claimed the lots don’t meet the 7,500 square-foot requirement.

The DCA decision, which was reviewed by a judge with Florida’s Administrative Law Division, said the city accepted the platted lots in the ROR before World War II. Therefore, the size of the lots now doesn’t matter as they were grandfathered for use by the city, the DCA said.

The DCA agreed the city was correct in grandfathering the smaller lots and using the gross-density method to determine ROR density. To deny construction on those lots smaller than 7,500 feet would amount to a “taking” from the property owners, the DCA said.

Motions filed in comp-plan dispute

A hearing in a lawsuit filed by William and Barbara Nally in March 2010 was scheduled in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court Jan. 11 before Judge Peter A. Dubensky.

William and Barbara Nally of Lakeland claim in their lawsuit that the city’s February 2010 approval of a site plan from Pine Avenue Restoration LLC for 216 Pine Ave. is inconsistent with Anna Maria’s comprehensive plan.

The Nallys, who own a vacation rental property in Anna Maria, allege the city’s method of determining density for the site-plan in the retail-office-residential district is at odds with the comp-plan, which they claim calls for a maximum of six residential units per acre.

PAR’s 216 Pine Ave. project is a completed, occupied retail-office-residential complex.

A major waterfront project in Bradenton Beach is nearing completion and another major project will begin later this year in the city.

Manatee County Commissioner John Chappie conveyed to Bradenton Beach city commissioners Jan. 6 that the marine rescue headquarters at Coquina Bayside is nearing completion.

“We’re looking forward to that fairly soon,” Chappie said during the city commission’s first meeting of 2011.

The headquarters will house lifeguards, as well as the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office water patrol, and was built for about $1.4 million.

While construction on the headquarters is ending, additional construction will take place on the south end of the Island with the addition of a dock for the MCSO east of the headquarters.

And, said Chappie, Coquina Beach is due for sand renourishment in 2011.

Chappie said county officials will be meeting with Island city commissions in the coming weeks to discuss renourishment plans.

“We have a big project coming up this year,” he said. “It’s going to do the job.”

Chappie, responding to a question from Mayor Bob Bartelt, said the county also is continuing to work to salvage at least two of three old groins at Cortez Beach.

In other business Jan. 6, the city commission:

• Approved payment of a $5,890 invoice from M.T. Causley for building department services.

• Approved payment of a $6,445 invoice from Christopher, Smith, Leonard, Bristow and Stanell for auditing services.

• Approved payment of a $2,357 invoice from city attorney Ricinda Perry for services in November.

• Approved payment of a $3,521 invoice from Blaylock Walters for research related to drafting a settlement agreement for a long-standing land-dispute case.

• Approved the appointment of Patricia L. Whitesel, a former Palmetto mayor, as an alternate member of the planning and zoning board.

“We’re fortunate to get someone like her,” said City Commissioner Jan Vosburgh.

• Approved payment of invoices totaling $3,504 from Waste Pro of Florida for sanitation assistance for a week when the city’s garbage trucks were down.

“A lot of people don’t understand the unfortunate shape of our equipment,” said Mayor Bob Bartelt. The city, unless it hires out sanitation collection, will need to purchase one — and possibly two — garbage trucks.

The city is drafting a request for bids on sanitation collection, which likely will be reviewed later this month.

The commission’s next regular meeting is at 1 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20, at city hall, 107 Gulf Drive N.

A convicted sex offender lived in Bradenton Beach for more than three years has moved off Anna Maria Island.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement website reported the convicted sex offender had lived in the 100 block of Ninth Street North since 2007.

Convicted sex offenders in Florida are required to register their address with the FDLE and report any changes within three days of moving to a new location.

The Bradenton Beach sex offender moved to the mainland.

There are no convicted sex offenders now living in Bradenton Beach, according to the FDLE website.

Two convicted sex offenders reside in Holmes Beach, while three convicted sex offenders live in or near Cortez, including a 71-year-old man residing in the 12500 block of Cortez Road West. The address is a recreational-vehicle park.

The man was convicted in Manatee County in May of two counts of possession of a photograph showing a sexual performance by a child. According to the FDLE website, he remains under supervision.

One convicted sex offender lives on 82nd Street West, while another lives in the Mount Vernon subdivision on Cortez Road West. A convicted sex offender lives in Coral Park, the subdivision adjacent to Mount Vernon.

The other sex offenders living on Anna Maria Island or within five miles are no longer under supervision.

Bradenton Beach Police Chief Sam Speciale said his officers regularly check on any convicted sex offender living in the city.

The FDLE did not report any convicted sex offender living in the city of Anna Maria.

Information on all sex offenders listed with the FDLE can be found at www.fdle.state.fl.us. A link is provided at The Islander website, www.islander.org, under community links.

Watchful neighbors noticed a ladder against a duplex Jan. 5 and triggered a law enforcement response that resulted in the arrest of two alleged burglars.

Shawn David Bozarth, 22, identified as homeless, and Ian Michael Beck, 21, of Bradenton, face felony charges of burglary. Beck also faces a violation of probation charge; he was seven days from completing his probation on a prior burglary conviction when arrested.

The arrests took place at about 4:30 p.m., with authorities taking the suspects into custody in two locations.

BBPD detective Sgt. Lenard Diaz took Bozarth into custody near the intersection of Holmes Boulevard and Gulf Drive in Holmes Beach, as the suspect apparently walked toward MartiniVille, where he worked as a pizza maker.

Diaz first saw the suspect, who fit witness descriptions, sitting at a trolley shelter in Bradenton Beach. The detective watched the suspect get into a white car and followed the vehicle to Holmes Beach, where Holmes Beach Police Department officers were on the alert and ready. At Holmes Boulevard, the suspect encountered three HBPD vehicles, along with a BBPD patrol.

“He got out of the car and started to jog toward MartiniVille,” said Diaz, adding that he asked the suspect for his name. The man answered, “Shawn,” and Diaz said he replied, “We’re looking for you.”

Beck was taken into custody near the volunteer fire station in Bradenton Beach, where he was first stopped by a citizen who heard descriptions of the two suspects over an emergency radio.

“He saw the guy coming out from between two houses and ordered him to the ground,” Diaz said of the citizen.

The incident began about an hour earlier, when two residents noticed two men with a ladder leaning against a second-story apartment in the 300 block of Bay Drive North. The residents saw one man on the ladder and the other on the ground, holding the ladder.

The residents also noticed a car parked nearby with the engine running, which they thought was odd, according to a BBPD report.

When the two residents asked the men what they were doing, the men fled in different directions, prompting a call to authorities. One of the witnesses said he recognized Bozarth because he had worked with him at MartiniVille.

Later, the resident of the burglarized apartment told BBPD that a screen was removed and a window opened to her apartment. Just inside the window, the witness noticed that pillows had been moved, indicating someone was inside.

Diaz said the BBPD appreciated its concerned citizens, as well as the assistance from the Holmes Beach Police Department and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, which dispatched a helicopter crew to the Island.

He added that BBPD shared its arrest information with other law enforcement, including HBPD, which investigated a number of residential burglaries in 2010.

“Holmes Beach is very much aware of this,” Diaz said.

Both Beck and Bozarth were taken to the Manatee County jail. Their bond was set at $7,500 and arraignments scheduled for Feb. 11.

The Bradenton Beach Police Department and Chief Sam Speciale filed notice Jan. 4 seeking to move a complaint against the department from local court to U.S. district court.

The suit, filed by a Tampa attorney over an incident at Coquina Beach in April 2008, alleges that a then-BBPD officer violated the constitutional rights of two siblings when he arrested them.

The case, filed at the Manatee County Judicial Center in Bradenton, named former Officer Tim Matthews, Speciale and BBPD as defendants. Matthews, a 13-year police veteran at the time of the incident, resigned shortly after and went to work for the Palmetto Police Department.

The BBPD received formal notice of the suit Dec. 30, 2010.

The department’s first response, filed by attorney Greg Hootman, was a motion to remove, an action that, if approved by the court, would take the case from local jurisdiction to federal jurisdiction.

Generally, the right to remove actions from local to federal court is governed by Section 1441 of Title 28 of the U.S. Code, which permits removal when the federal court would have had original jurisdiction had the plaintiff filed the case at the federal level. Cases raising federal questions, especially constitutional issues may be — and often are — moved to federal court.

The lawsuit, filed by Tampa attorney Alex V. Hajaistron, claims that Matthews violated the Fourth Amendment rights of siblings Lance and Veronica Lewis when he arrested them on charges of battery on a law enforcement officer.

The incident, according to court documents and police reports, escalated after Lance Lewis, then 14, blew a kiss toward Matthews, who was in his patrol car.

After seeing the blown kiss, Matthews stopped and approached the Lewis siblings.

The Lewis complaint alleged, “Without probable cause or reasonable suspicion of criminal activity for an investigation or arrest, Officer Matthews jumped on Lance Lewis, thereby taking him by force, injuring the juvenile and cuffing him. Lance Lewis had a cast on his arm when Officer Matthews affected the arrest.”

The complaint continued, “Without probable cause or reasonable suspicion of criminal activity for an investigation or arrest, Officer Matthews further pushed Veronica Lewis to the ground, cuffed, arrested and charged her with battery on a law enforcement officer as she attempted to ascertain why Officer Matthews was battering and arresting her brother.”

A police affidavit filed by Matthews provided a different account of the incident.

The officer wrote that he asked Lance Lewis if he “had a problem” after he saw the youth blow him kiss.

Lance Lewis allegedly replied, “I don’t have a problem” and then used a racial slur. He also allegedly told the officer, “(expletive deleted) you,” in the presence of a number of children, according to the police report.

The report said when Matthews attempted to arrest Lance Lewis, Veronica Lewis pushed the officer and Lance Lewis kicked him.

In a September 2008 hearing for Veronica Lewis, Circuit Court Judge Diana Mooreland dismissed a charge of battery on a law enforcement officer.

That same month, Lance Lewis appeared before Judge Marc Gilner on charges of disorderly conduct and battery against an officer and was acquitted.

The Lewis complaint stated that Matthews violated the siblings’ Fourth Amendment rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure and asked for unspecified monetary damages.

In his motion, Hootman, repeatedly referring to BBPD and Speciale as “erroneously-named defendants” said the Lewis’ Fourth Amendment complaint puts the case in federal jurisdiction.

A bald eagle perches on a dock near Sunrise Lane in Holmes Beach. The bird of prey — and the national symbol — was once facing extinction, but is no longer on the endangered or threatened species lists and can be found throughout most of the continent. Audubon Society volunteers monitor a number of bald eagle nests in the area. Islander Photo: Courtesy Tina Howe