Bradenton woman charged with spraying officers with garden hose

BRADENTON -- A Bradenton woman is charged with spraying officers with a water hose and then resisting arrest, according to the Bradenton Police Department.

Teri Thomas, 24, was arrested at 12:16 p.m. Tuesday in front of her home in the 1300 block of 13th Avenue West in Bradenton. According to a report, two Bradenton police officers responded to the home in reference to a verbal argument between Thomas and her husband. After the situation was over and her husband left the residence, police said Thomas became verbally abusive towards the officers on scene. Thomas demanded that all police leave her property and street.

According to the report, officers left Thomas' property and stood on the sidewalk waiting for all parties to calm down and to make sure Thomas' husband did not return. Thomas continued to yell at officers and said she was going to water her lawn since they refused to leave the neighborhood. Police said Thomas then dragged a garden hose to the front of the property and began to spray water in the direction of the officers. One of the officers told Thomas numerous times not to spray them, a report states. Thomas said she was videotaping the event and that she was doing nothing wrong by watering her lawn.

According to the report, one of the officers told Thomas again that she was not to spray them with her hose and she raised the hose in the air and arched the water so it would directly spray them. Police told Thomas she was being arrested and said she tensed up in an attempt to prevent them from placing handcuffs on her. The report states Thomas stopped walking and sat down in the middle of the road.

Once they stood Thomas up, she began pulling and attempting to push away. Thomas' video was placed into evidence, according to a report.

While at Manatee Memorial Hospital, Thomas said she did "spray water" at the officers in order to get them out of the neighborhood.

Thomas was charged with two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting with violence, according to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office. She is being held in Manatee County Jail on bonds totaling $3,000.

This story was originally published January 13, 2016 at 10:01 PM with the headline "Bradenton woman charged with spraying officers with garden hose ."