For possessing drugs, stealing an SUV belonging to a Bradenton Beach man and fleeing police at speeds in excess of 100 mph, a man was sentenced Dec. 9 to nearly five years in prison.
When Jonathan Waiters, 34, formerly of Bradenton and Palmetto, was arrested by Manatee County Sheriff’s Office on New Year’s Day, he was found driving on a suspended license with 2.2 grams of rock cocaine, according to the police report.
Less than a month before the chase, MCSO arrested Waiters for possessing and intending to sell about 3.5 grams of both rock cocaine and heroin.
Twelfth Judicial Circuit Judge Susan B. Malucci combined the stolen car case with the prior drug arrest. She sentenced him to 57 months in Florida prison, with credit for 250 days served, adjudicated his guilt on all counts, suspended his driver’s license for a year and entered a $748 judgment for court costs.
The vehicle was stolen in December 2014 from its owner in the Bridgeport condominiums, 501 Gulf Drive N., according to Bradenton Beach Police Department and MCSO reports.
Waiters fled from law enforcement Jan. 1 when deputies attempted to pull him over in Bradenton. Police pursued the vehicle in a chase that reached 109 mph before Waiters lost control of his vehicle.