A former city clerk of Bradenton Beach is no longer required to report to court personnel while she awaits her day in court for allegedly striking a police officer.
At a Jan. 2 hearing, Twelfth Judicial Circuit Judge Mark D. Singer ended Gia Lancaster’s pretrial supervision. He released her on her own recognizance.
She’d been ordered on court supervision after her Oct. 21 arrest for striking a police officer in the chest while in a dispute with people she shared an apartment on 26th Avenue West in Bradenton.
The prosecution reduced Lancaster’s felony charge to a misdemeanor Dec. 8.
On the job for two months, the city clerk was summarily fired Oct. 23 by vote of the Bradenton Beach city commission.
Her unemployment claim was rejected Nov. 6 by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, stating that Lancaster was discharged for failing to notify the city of an absence and misconduct connected with work.
Also in November, the city received notice of Lancaster filing with the U.S. Equal Employment Commission, “charges that are still pending” on Jan. 5, according to Mark Barnebey, the city’s public records attorney.
A pretrial conference on the misdemeanor case is scheduled before Singer 1:30 p.m. Jan. 20 at the Manatee County Judicial Center, 1051 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.
