Tracy Allen

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MARCO ISLAND — What may seem to be a minor violation could lead to a long day in jail followed by a day in court, especially if the police take notice of you more than once in a day.

That is what happened to Tracy Allen, a Pennsylvania resident who was visiting Residents’ Beach in late May. Allen’s cooler contained three glass beer bottles and a glass iced tea bottle. The problem wasn’t the beer, but the glass. She was arrested May 29 for violating a Collier County beach ordinance which prohibits glass containers on the beach.

“I really think it was excessive,” Allen said of the arrest.

She said Marco Island police officers questioned her about her activities that day, including an incident she had with children and their parents at a community pool as well as a “messy” ride on a jet ski.

The officers came back an hour later, searched her cooler and arrested her, she said. She spent more than eight hours in the Naples Jail Center that evening.

The charges were dropped against Allen when she was scheduled to have her day in court Thursday, but still she says the minor violation became quite an ordeal.

Marco Island Police Chief Thom Carr said a violation such as glass on the beach would not commonly lead to arrest, however three phone calls to the police about Allen’s suspicious behavior that day led to the unusual result.

Carr said police thought they were doing her a favor by arresting her on the smallest charge possible. The beach ordinance is a second-degree misdemeanor. Public intoxication, public nuisance, operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or other violations could have been among the charges she could face if police were more strict, Carr said.

“We could have Baker Acted her, but they won’t take her if she’s at all intoxicated because they couldn’t evaluate her,” Carr said.

The Florida Mental Health Act of 1971 is commonly known as the “Baker Act.” It allows for involuntary examination initiated by judges, law enforcement officials or mental health professionals. There must be evidence that the person has a mental illness and is a harm to self, harm to others or self neglectful.

While Allen said she believes the arrest “all stemmed from trying to light a cigarette on the beach because people are against smoking,” officers say it was a health and safety issue.

Allen reportedly was talking to some children at a community pool near the beach. She was suggesting the children play a game that her children play, she said.

The children yelled “stranger danger” which alerted one of the children’s mothers, Allen said.

Allen, 43 said she believed the mother was being a little “paranoid” about the 5’3, 125-pound woman speaking to her children “at a public place in broad daylight.”

If that was an isolated incident, Allen may not have gone through the traumatic experience of spending much of the evening in jail. However, police also received a report of a woman falling off a jet ski that she did not own, concerning other beach-goers that Allen was intoxicated and troublesome.

Allen said she did request a ride on an unknown man’s wave runner and that the ride was rough. She was swimming in the water when officers Ed Stenzel, George Guyer, Pete Beucler and Brian Hughes all attempted to get her attention. Allen said she did not notice the officers standing by her belongings on the beach until Marine Officer Brian Hood approached her in his boat.

“I would think the taxpayers would want to know why a boat was sent out to something so frivolous,” Allen said.

Hughes, the arresting officer wrote in the police report that “upon questioning (Allen) it was obvious the woman had been drinking, but not intoxicated to the point where she was a danger to herself or others.”

Carr said that once police had received three calls about the woman, it may have been neglectful to not do anything.

“This is the fleecing of America. They have to put someone like me through something like that for something so stupid,” Allen said.

The charges were dropped upon a signed agreement between Allen, her attorney, Rebecca Hodge, and Hughes. According to the document, if Allen agreed not to sue the Marco Island police officers, Hughes would not pursue the case.

Allen now questions that decision to agree not to sue.

“We tried to do her a favor. That’s why I’m surprised she’s complaining ... If she wants, we can bring the charges back,” Carr replied.

Carr added that “despite popular belief we don’t like locking people up.”

He said there has been some confusion not only to the ordinance regarding glass on the beach but also the difference between city and county laws.

It’s important for people to know that glass is not allowed on any beach, however alcohol is allowed on city beaches but not in county parks, Carr explained.

The confusion comes in because alcohol is not allowed in Collier County parks which, in the case of South Beach and Tigertail, the parks are adjacent to the beach. The boardwalk and parking lot at South Beach are county owned and therefore alcohol is not allowed, said Code Enforcement Officer Eric Wardle.

Alcohol is also not allowed at the county park at Tigertail Beach. However, beach-goers may have alcohol on the sandy beaches everywhere on Marco Island, as long as it’s not in a glass container.