Updated June 11, 2018
BRADENTON BEACH – A Bradenton Beach man was arrested Wednesday evening and charged with carjacking and battery on a disabled person in connection with an incident that occurred earlier in the day at Coquina Beach, according to Bradenton Beach police.
Rick Jeffrey Rowland, whose last known address was a boat in the anchorage near the Bradenton Beach Pier, was taken into custody about 6 p.m. Wednesday and transported to the Manatee County jail in Palmetto, according to Bradenton Beach Det. Sgt. Lenard Diaz.
Diaz said Rowland was arrested after being taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital as a result of a crash that occurred just past the south end of the Longboat Pass Bridge, not far from where the alleged carjacking occurred. Diaz said the Longboat Key Police Department investigated the crash.
“Apparently, he was sitting down at the beach and saw a guy with a Corvette. The guy was putting stuff in the back of the trunk and he (Rowland) walked up behind the guy and hit him in the head a couple times. When the guy turned around, he (Rowland) told him to give him his keys. He forced the keys out of the guy’s hands. The owner tried to force him out of the Corvette but he took off toward the Longboat Key bridge,” Diaz said.
“I talked to the Longboat Police Department. He (Rowland) passed some cars and when he tried to get back in, he struck a couple cars and the vehicle became disabled on the south side of the bridge. The driver of one of the cars he hit then held him until the cops got there,” Diaz said.
