Manatee County commissioner to avoid charges after taking bougainvillea plant from lot
After striking a deal with the State Attorney’s Office, Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge is expected to avoid charges in the theft of a bougainvillea plant.
According to a pre-trial intervention agreement filed Thursday morning, Van Ostenbridge must complete an 8-hour misdemeanor class, 25 hours of community service, spend 90 days on probation, and write a letter to the victim. If those criteria are met, he will not face any charges.
Before reaching a deal with local prosecutors, Van Ostenbridge was facing a misdemeanor charge of theft. Pre-trial intervention programs, which allow people without criminal records to avoid charges for non-violent misdemeanor crimes, have been hailed by local criminal justice reform advocates.
In a statement provided to the Bradenton Herald, Van Ostenbridge, 42, said he looks forward to putting the case behind him.
“I am glad that the State Attorney’s Office sees that this was a misunderstanding and no charges will be filed,” Van Ostenbridge said. “I certainly never had the intention of causing anyone harm. I look forward to the case being dismissed in 90 days’ time.”
First elected in 2020, Van Ostenbridge is a Republican commissioner representing District 3 on the Manatee County Commission. His district includes the vast majority of Manatee County’s coastal areas, including Anna Maria Island, West Bradenton and Snead Island.
Reached for comment Thursday afternoon, the victim, Zachary Richardson, said he hoped the incident can be a learning experience for Van Ostenbridge.
“It’s disappointing to see a county commissioner do this to a small business owner that grew up here,” Richardson said. “We are hopeful Kevin has learned from this and his next bougainvillea will be from one of Manatee County’s great family-owned nurseries.”
Plant in a vacant lot
Richardson’s allegations of theft date back to Sept. 22, when he used a camera to record Van Ostenbridge on his property. Video footage shows the first-term commissioner walking his dog through a vacant half-acre property in the 2400 block of 60th St. Ct. W. in Bradenton before returning later to load the plant into his pickup truck and take it home.
The Bradenton Police Department began investigating the case on Sept. 23, when the victim identified Van Ostenbridge in the video footage and reported the plant stolen.
According to the police report from that day, Van Ostenbridge admitted to taking the plant because he did not know it belonged to someone else.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Richardson valued the plant at $300.
“The plant was located on the southern edge of your lot near the large drainage ditch,” Van Ostenbridge wrote in his letter to the victim. “Since there is no irrigation on the property, I assumed the plant had been left there to die. I returned later and took the plant home where I watered it.”
The bougainvillea plant was returned to the victim at the time, police noted.
The victim also told law enforcement officials that the video footage came from a game camera that he placed on the property to catch people illegally dumping items like lumber, garbage and other material, according to the incident report. There is also a small yellow sign on the property advising visitors that the land is private property.
The officer investigating the case said Richardson declined to press charges at the time, but the Bradenton man changed his mind later. Records show he asked the Bradenton Police Department to move forward with charges against Van Ostenbridge on Sept. 24.
Previous legal troubles
While Van Ostenbridge does not have a criminal record, the commissioner has had encounters with the legal system. Van Ostenbridge was previously named in a public records lawsuit that alleged he had conspired with fellow board members outside of Florida’s Sunshine Law in an effort to fire former County Administrator Cheri Coryea.
The lawsuit sparked an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which served subpoenas to Van Ostenbridge and three other county commissioners. Weeks later, however, FDLE investigators said they found no evidence of a crime.
This story was originally published January 19, 2023 at 2:13 PM.
