A former island liveaboard is serving time in prison until July 2026 for spitting at a Bradenton Beach police officer and violating probation.
Judge Lon Arend with the 12th Circuit Court sentenced Patrick Thurman, 62, last September to 60 months in prison following a third-degree felony conviction for battery of a law enforcement officer and two probation violations.
The sentence stems from a May 4, 2020, incident in which Bradenton Beach police detained Thurman under the Marchman Act for alleged disorderly intoxication after finding he had been involved in a fight.
Officers transported Thurman to the Bradenton Beach Police Department for processing.
There, Thurman threatened to kill the arresting officers and spat on one of them. He was arrested for battery of a law enforcement officer with bodily fluid and taken to the Manatee County jail.
Thurman initially pleaded not guilty but he changed his plea to no contest in September 2020.
Arend then found Thurman guilty of the third-degree felony charge and sentenced him to three years on probation.
By October 2020, the court found Thurman had failed to comply with probation terms and he was arrested in August 2021.
However, in March 2022, 12th Circuit Judge Charles Roberts found Thurman incompetent due to mental illness.
The ruling vacated Thurman’s jail hold so he could be transported to Centerstone Behavioral Hospital in Bradenton to determine whether he met the criteria for commitment under the Baker Act, which allows for the involuntary examination of people who may suffer from mental illness and exhibit a risk to themselves and/or others.
Centerstone contacted a probation officer in June 2022 to report Thurman absconded from the facility May 21, 2022.
The court again found Thurman in violation of probationary terms and ordered his arrest.
Thurman was arrested in September 2022.
After a period at a treatment facility, he was sentenced in September 2023 to 60 months in prison for violation of probation, with 944 days credited for time served in jail and hospitals.
The sentence is running concurrently with another prison sentence.
Thurman is serving his sentence at a state prison.