A Bradenton man who drove an SUV through a Holmes Beach art gallery window will pay court costs for leaving the scene of accident after a February crash at the Artists’ Guild of Anna Maria Island’s Guild Gallery, 5414 Marina Drive.
Louis Knowles, 28, pleaded no contest June 19 to the charge.
Twelfth Circuit Judge K. Douglas Henderson withheld adjudication and imposed court costs of $306.
“The judge basically ruled that there was no damage caused by leaving the scene so there’d be no restitution,” said Knowles’ attorney, Peter Lombardo of the Lombardo Law Office, Bradenton.
At the time of the crash, AGAMI estimated $20,000 in artwork was damaged.
AGAMI second vice president Peggy Griffiths said the guild members are responsible for carrying their own insurance and only a few members do.
Representatives of AGAMI attended court hearings and filed a victim impact statement.
Before the June plea deal, AGAMI president Wendell Graham spoke about the concerns of the group’s 50-plus members.
She said, “Everybody felt the need for him to be held accountable for what he’s done. We still haven’t heard an apology — and that’s the sad part.
Before the plea deal, Lombardo had moved to suppress statements Knowles made during the Holmes Beach Police Department crash investigation because of a failure to read him the Miranda warnings — required for admissibility in a criminal proceeding.
The defense motion was withdrawn with the plea deal, Lombardo said.
In connection with the crash investigation, HBPD ticketed Knowles for no vehicle registration and no insurance.
Knowles was sentenced to attend driving school for the tickets, according to court records.
The state attorney of the 12th Judicial Circuit sent AGAMI a letter explaining the outcome of the leaving the scene charge. At press time, AGAMI had not opened that mail.