Teen Rowers Threatened By Woman With Rifle

OSPREY, FL — A 62-year-old Osprey woman faces a lengthy list of criminal charges after Sarasota County Sheriff’s deputies say she brandished a rifle while threatening a group of teenagers and young adults who were conducting daily rowing practice on water behind her Palmetto Avenue home.

According to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, the rowers from Sarasota Crew were conducting practices around 5:30 p.m. Monday, March 27. As several members of the team were getting into their boats, Donna Betts is accused of walking out to the dock behind her home in the 320 block of Palmetto armed with a rifle.

Betts, an arrest report states, began threatening crew members who were in boats still near the crew’s nearby dock. “Betts was threatening to shoot the different crew members and coaches as she was pointing the rifle at them,” the arrest report said. “Betts made statements that if they came on her property, they would be shot.”

Get the Sarasota Patch newsletter and alerts delivered to your inbox.

The report noted that “at no time did the victims enter the defendant’s property.”

The kerfuffle was captured on a cellphone video that shows Betts pointing the rifle and yelling at the teens to “stay off her property,” the report said. The video also captured Betts throwing the rifle into the water before retreating to her home, the report added.

Authorities were notified about the incident rather quickly. The report said that Betts also called 911 to report “the crew from Sarasota High School have destroyed her life and she has had it."

The rifle was recovered from the water, the agency noted. Betts was charged in the case on Tuesday morning, the sheriff’s office said. She faces 18 counts of aggravated assault with a firearm. No bond had been set as of Tuesday afternoon.

No injuries were reported in the incident.

Keep up with what’s happening by following Sarasota Patch on Facebook.

Booking photo courtesy of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office