A 51-year-old woman was arrested after an altercation about crab traps with three people who were shark fishing on the beach in Anna Maria.
Joann Manali of Holmes Beach was arrested at 4:48 p.m. Jan. 2 at 100 Spring Ave. for an alleged misdemeanor battery after Manatee County Sheriff’s deputies interviewed people who had witnessed the incident.
Manali and her husband, a commercial crabber, operate Capt. Anthony’s Stone Crab Store at 107 Spring Ave., adjacent to the Sandbar Restaurant in Anna Maria.
Witnesses told the MCSO a woman screamed and cursed at three people because she believed they had cut crab-trap lines, and that she grabbed a man’s fishing pole and slammed the rod into his chest.
As a deputy arrived, he saw a woman leaving the beach and began an investigation that identified the woman as Manali, according to the report.
She was transported and booked at the Manatee County jail and posted a $500 bond.
Manali’s first court date is set for Feb. 4 at the Manatee County Judicial Center, 1051 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.