Ashbrook convicted of disorderly conduct charge
Former Port St. Joe City Commissioner David Ashbrook was adjudicated guilty on a disorderly conduct charge on May 17, changed from a misdemeanor domestic battery charge he received after an incident occurring at a local bar in February.
Ashbrook filed a plea of no contest to the disorderly conduct charge.
Disorderly conduct is a second-degree misdemeanor in Florida, a lesser charge than misdemeanor domestic battery, which is a first-degree misdemeanor and punishable by up to a year in jail.
The plea document signed by Ashbrook called for him to pay $105 in fines and $270 in court fees. It indicated that failure to pay these fines within 60 days would result in 30 days of jail time, but payment was received shortly after Ashbrook’s adjudication.
Ashbrook’s initial charges resulted after he was arrested at his home by an officer with the Port St. Joe Police Department on Feb. 13.
According to the police report made in the case, the arrest occurred after video obtained by the police showed Ashbrook “grab(bing) (the victim) by her right shoulder and throw(ing) her to the ground”in the parking lot of a bar in Port St. Joe.
Ashbrook did not seek reelection this year, and Steve Kerigan was elected to his seat in early May. Had this not been the case, Ashbrook would have been removed from his office following his conviction of a crime.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.