Florida developer of Anna Maria Island arrested on DUI, resisting law enforcement

A major developer of Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key was arrested Friday on charges of DUI and resisting a law enforcement officer.

Holmes Beach police arrested Shawn Kaleta, 45, and charged him with a second-degree misdemeanor for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol, as well as a first-degree misdemeanor for resisting an officer without violence, according to an incident report.

He is is a prominent businessman who owns the company Beach to Bay Living and has developed hundreds of properties on the island and Longboat Key. Most recently, he proposed building a new four-story hotel in Bradenton Beach, and submitted a proposal for Bradenton’s downtown city hall building.

Kaleta was first spotted by a patrol officer at 11:27 p.m. on June 15. He was in a black Mercedes-Benz accelerating through a turn from East Bay Drive onto eastbound Manatee Avenue, where he continued to accelerate until it met slower traffic ahead.

The car then began “weaving within their lane,” according to the report, drifted off the right shoulder and almost hit a construction sign, “abruptly swerving to avoid it.”

After the car crossed a construction zone on Anna Maria Bridge, the officer pulled him over and asked for his driver’s license, registration and proof of insurance, at which point Kaleta began searching for documents before getting sidetracked by his phone multiple times, according to the report.

The officer reminded him multiple times to provide the documents. Kaleta produced his registration and eventually proof of insurance, but repeatedly told the officer that he could not find his driver’s license.

At one point, he opened the vehicle door and put a foot down on the pavement — without telling the officer — in order to look for his license in the door compartments. After searching for it for a while, he asked if he could “pull around the car and look for his mom” before correcting himself and stating license.

The officer told him he was not allowed to drive at that point, so Kaleta asked if he could get out of the vehicle to look for his license.

The officer allowed him to get out but noticed he “lost his balance” and “staggered.” When he walked to the other side of his car, the officer said he swayed.

He also noticed that Kaleta’s breath smelled of an alcoholic beverage, his speech was “confusing and repetitive,” and his eyes were “glassy.” As he searched for his license, the officer asked him questions, to which Kaleta’s responses proved inconsistent, the officer said.

The officer asked Kaleta if he had any drinks or had taken any medications recently, but he said he had not, according to the HBPD report.

The officer then instructed Kaleta to stand behind his vehicle so he could look up his driver’s license, but he instead walked onto the shoulder, again losing his balance, causing the officer to tell him multiple times to stand behind his vehicle and eventually showing him where to stand — which Kaleta still did not comply with, according to the report.

When the officer turned his emergency lights off to conduct a field sobriety test, Kaleta offered to have his wife pick him up but also added that “he has done nothing wrong.”

The officer then checked Kaleta’s eyes and asked him if he had any medical issues that affect his eyes or his basic body movements, to which Kaleta responded that he does have medical conditions, is on antibiotics, and is over 40 and “doesn’t see properly.” When asked if he was blind in either eye Kaleta responded that he does not know.

Kaleta initially complied with the field sobriety test before he stopped at one point and asked for an attorney and added that he had done nothing wrong and had nothing to drink. When asked again if he would do the exercises, Kaleta said again that he wanted an attorney and asked the officer if he had “seen anything that conducts an issue.”

The officer responded that he had seen signs of impairment and asked him again if he would like to continue the exercises, to which Kaleta pulled out his phone and tried to call an attorney. The officer told him he could not do that at the present time and again asked him if he would do the exercises. When Kaleta wouldn’t answer his questions, he told him he was under arrest for driving under the influence.

When the officer tried to grab his arms to put handcuffs on him, Kaleta began “aggressively” pulling away from the officer and tried to walk away while also refusing the officer’s verbal command to stop resisting. The officer then brought Kaleta to the ground and laid him on his stomach before placing him in handcuffs, searching him and finding a wine cork in his short’s pocket.

Kaleta was transported to HBPD, where he refused to provide breath samples despite telling the officer before beforehand that he would.

He asked for a medical evaluation, but EMS evaluated him as not needing medical treatment. He asked to be taken to the hospital and was transported to Blake Florida Hospital, where he agreed to have his blood drawn for police, but spent about an hour in the bathroom, resulting in no samples being drawn.

Sean Powers of McNary Powers, who is jointly representing Kaleta along with Jason Miller of the Najmy Thompson firm in Bradenton, said in a phone call to the Bradenton Herald on Wednesday that his client agreed three times at the hospital to give a blood test and that he isn’t sure why HBPD declined.

Powers said Kaleta also agreed to take a breathalyzer if it was proven to him that it was properly calibrated, leaving them with “plenty of options to make a determination with more than one version of a test, but Holmes Beach Police Department decided not to do that.”

“He’s dealing with family issues and health issues when he was going home that night that impacted things. We understand this is going to be examined by the State Attorney’s Office and we are confident things are going to look good for Mr. Kaleta,” Powers said.

Kaleta was booked into the Manatee County Jail on Friday. He was released after posting $620 bail.

This story was originally published June 21, 2023 at 4:48 PM.