Police say candidate’s claims of vandalized vehicle are not true

Bradenton City Council candidate Bill Sanders had yet another complaint refuted by the Bradenton Police Department on Thursday.

Police closed out a case Sanders filed accusing his opponent, Ward 4 incumbent Bemis Smith, of being associated with cut brake lines on Sanders’ recreational vehicle.

Sanders made the accusation after another investigation was closed out over allegations of a Facebook threat toward his sister. Sanders said Smith’s campaign had turned into a “criminal enterprise,” but in both cases, no wrongdoing was discovered.

Police learned of Sanders’ accusations about the brake lines from a Bradenton Herald story posted Wednesday and immediately investigated the charge. Police say Sanders was hesitant when officers wanted to go to his home to inspect the RV and tried to talk the officers out of getting underneath the vehicle once on site.

An officer who is a certified mechanic investigated the brake lines and found that they had rusted out, locating brake fluid oozing from a rusted out hole in one of the lines. Sanders had told the Bradenton Herald that he had recently replaced the lines, but photographs reflect the condition described by police.

“There is no evidence of tampering,” said Bradenton police Lt. Brian Thiers. “We’ll investigate any and all allegations of criminal activities, but what Mr. Sanders brought forward was found not to be the case.”

Thiers said it us unwise to make public accusations before notifying the police.

“I would caution people on things like this when there is an element of a potential criminal act, that law enforcement needs to be involved before sharing those accusations to the public,” Thiers said.

Within minutes of being notified by police that his claims of having his brake lines cut were unfounded, Sanders posted on Facebook a photo showing some scratches with the header, “This is a fresh cut mark on my brake line.”

But the photo doesn’t show a cut and it’s not in the location of where police officers found the leak coming from the rusted line. When contacted, Sanders backed away somewhat from his initial accusations.

“I found marks where somebody tampered with it,” Sanders said. “But it was so oily and so forth and I couldn’t see (a cut). But how do I know someone didn’t reach out and grab that and yank it? I’ve never had brakes all of a sudden pop loose, but maybe this is one of those times where I’m wrong. Anything can happen, but probably no one will ever know for sure.”

The Facebook incident has also been closed with police saying there was no crime that occurred.

“What they have pointed as being the threat is not at all a threat,” Thiers said. “He’s unable to provide any proof and there is no physical evidence.”

The alleged threat began with a Facebook argument where someone said to Sanders’ sister “this can be settled with one phone call.”

Sanders said he has other comments, but didn’t provide them to the police or the Bradenton Herald. Sanders insists his complaints are not politically motivated with the election less than two weeks away. Sanders said, “It’s about the police doing their jobs.”

Thiers said not only were both incidents thoroughly investigated, they reopened the Facebook complaint to ask more questions when Sanders expressed dissatisfaction in the initial closure, but police ultimately closed the case again on Thursday.

“Don’t jump the gun on any allegations before an investigation takes place,” Thiers said.

Sanders claims to be the victim, but Smith said if anyone’s a victim, it’s him.

“I was angered upon hearing of further false accusations against me and my campaign,” Smith said. “The reality is that he is so desperate to overcome the fact that he hasn’t shown a commitment to our community and that he has deceived voters about his past, that he will try to tear me down with lies and false police reports.”

Smith said, in the case of the police reports, it was not only a deception but a waste of valuable resources and time.

“I hope that in the future, he will will make common sense assessments and not try to waste taxpayer money by having the police department come out to determine where his motor home is leaking brake fluid,” Smith said.