A Bradenton Beach boat owner was sentenced to 120 days in jail for battery to a police officer after she interfered in the arrest of her boyfriend.
The couple, who lived aboard their boat in the anchorage area at the east end of Bridge Street, allegedly defaced a public improvement project.
And the boat, which sank in March while the couple was jailed, will soon be towed and disposed of by the city.
Matthew Ebersberger, 29, and Brittany Heinen, 23, were arrested for criminal mischief Jan. 20 for stepping in wet cement and tearing down caution tape on Bridge Street.
Heinen also was charged with battery and opposing an officer for interfering with an officer trying to arrest her boyfriend, Ebersberger.
The pair remained in jail since the arrest.
Heinen pleaded no contest April 21 to all charges.
Twelfth Circuit Judge Deno Economou found her guilty of two misdemeanors, criminal mischief and opposing an officer, and withheld adjudication on the felony battery, pending 24 months probation. Her jail sentence included credit for time served.
BBPD tagged Heinen’s sunken boat for removal April 2.
The two lived among the some 40 boats anchored adjacent to the Intracoastal Waterway on the south side of the city pier, according to BBPD Detective Sgt. Lenard Diaz.
After the boat sank March 12, Diaz said police would give them time to remove it.
BBPD Lt. John Cosby, who runs the city’s derelict vessel program, said April 21 he waited the appropriate time, processed the paperwork required by state law and N.E. Taylor Boatworks of Cortez would be coming to pull it out.
As in the past, the city will be reimbursed the $5,000 recovery and towing costs by the West Coast Inland Navigational District, he said.
The WCIND is a special taxing district, comprised of Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte and Lee Counties, that assists in county waterway projects.
This is the 17th vessel to be towed since 2011 from Bradenton Beach jurisdiction, Cosby said.
State law empowers law enforcement to remove and dispose of derelict and abandoned vessels due to environmental hazards, such as leaky motor fluids and flying debris during storms.
Cosby sent certified mail to Heinen’s last known address, which came back undelivered. Notice to others who may reside in a vessel is not required, he said.
Ebersberger’s next court date is at 1:25 p.m. Monday, May 16, at the Manatee County Judicial Center, 1051 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.
Yeah this is all slander and not even 100% true. I was never arrested for criminal mischief. Look up my records. I was wrongfully detained without being told I was under arrest. I was tackled by a citizen for trying to get the phone out of my husbands pocket. We did not deface the cement either. It was dry. All we did was walk through caution tape. I’d appreciate if this is removed because it’s not even true. Some of it is. But I am not guilty of pushing that officer. He pushed ME. To keep me from getting my boyfriends phone so that I could record his wrong doing. I was not under arrest at the time I was placed into the vehicle, of Bradenton city police. Who were actually called to the scene by a nearby watcher who said the cops were actually beating up the citizens. I grew up with the chief of police of Bradenton beach, Carley speciale my entire life. … I’m now a mother of two boys and LIES have ruined my life.