Former Bradenton Beach city clerk Gia Lancaster pleaded no contest to opposing an officer more than a year after her run-in with the Bradenton Police Department.
On Nov. 9, as part of a plea deal, 12th Circuit Court Judge Mark D. Singer sentenced her to six months probation and withheld Lancaster’s adjudication. Lancaster also was ordered to write an apology to the officer.
Just before Bradenton Beach city commissioners voted unanimously to fire Lancaster in October 2014 — on the job for two months — she argued with her roommates at an apartment she rented on 26th Avenue in Bradenton and struck the officer as he attempted to mediate the dispute.
After her city dismissal, the former clerk filed for unemployment — a claim that was rejected by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
The FDEO determined the city discharged her for failing to notify the city of an absence and work misconduct.
Lancaster also filed a claim with the U.S. Equal Employment Commission, which, according to Mark Barnebey, the attorney for the city in the case, is still pending.
Lancaster was fined $250 plus court costs.
She was required to report to a probation officer by 4 p.m. Nov. 13. The court is allowing Lancaster, of Titusville, to report via telephone and mail.
— Kathy Prucnell