Holmes Beach police officers arrested Lakewood Ranch resident James Smith, 54, Sept. 24 on two third-degree felony charges for child abuse and resisting arrest with violence.
Smith also was charged with first-degree misdemeanors of possessing paraphernalia and less than 20 grams of marijuana and a second-degree misdemeanor charge for breach of peace.
A pair of Holmes Beach police officers responded to reports of a man screaming and chasing a child on the beach. The officers found the man, identified as Smith, who became “hostile and uncooperative” before trying to run away, “stating he was going swimming,” according to the police report.
Smith stopped when he faced a stun gun pointed at him but refused to present identification. Another officer pepper-sprayed Smith.
After directing Smith to the ground, the officers handcuffed and searched him, finding a container with marijuana and a makeshift pipe.
Smith said he did not have a medical marijuana license and physically resisted and verbally threatened the officers as they escorted him to a patrol car.
The officers called emergency medical services, which cleared Smith of any medical conditions and decontaminated the pepper spray in his eyes.
Witnesses told the officers Smith hit a child on the head multiple times before chasing the boy. Then beachgoers formed a line to separate Smith from the child, who later told officers Smith once tried to drown him in a swimming pool.
The child’s legal guardian, his grandmother, did not report the information to the officers until it was relayed by witnesses and said she did not want to press charges. The report states the woman “did not protect the child by failing to report the battery, and minimized the suspect’s actions. She appeared to have more concern for Smith than the child or even herself.”
The officers arrested Smith and transported him to the Manatee County jail, where he was released Sept. 25 after posting $4,120 bond.
The officers also filed a capias request for child neglect charges against the victim’s grandmother.
Judge Renee Inman of the 12th Judicial Circuit Court filed a first appearance order Sept. 27 with the Manatee County Clerk of Court prohibiting Smith from “any contact of any type with the victim,” with a handwritten note, “or girlfriend.”
Conviction on a third-degree felony is punishable with up to five years in prison, five years probation and a $5,000 fine.
An arraignment will be at 9 a.m. Friday, Oct. 22, at the Manatee County Judicial Center, 1051 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.