HOLMES BEACH – Angie Prater, 49, homeless, was arrested June 27 for spitting on two Manatee County code enforcement officers at the Manatee Public Beach, 4000 Gulf Drive, Holmes Beach.
According to the police report, Prater was involved in an altercation with a family over the use of a picnic table. When code enforcement officer John Howard intervened, he observed Prater “intentionally coughing at beach patrons during this sensitive time with the COVID-19 pandemic.”
When Howard asked Prater to leave, he observed the woman spit on the back of another code enforcement officer, Peter Chadziewicz.
Howard then told Prater she had just committed battery on a code officer, after which she spit on Howard’s chest.
A Holmes Beach police officer arrived and arrested Prater for one charge of aggravated battery on a code enforcement officer.
Prater was transported to Blake Medical Center in Bradenton after complaining of chest pains. After being cleared from the hospital, she was taken to the Manatee County jail.
She was released July 1 on $1,500 bail.
Prater is scheduled to appear in court July 24.
— ChrisAnn Allen