Port Director will not Face Domestic Battery Charge

Carlos Buqueras

BRADENTON – The state attorney's office will take no action on a domestic battery charge against Port Manatee Executive Director Carlos Buqueras in connection with his September 7 arrest. The decision was made after the director's wife retracted her accusations.

Buqueras was arrested on claims that he pushed, punched and dragged his wife in a dispute over household bills at their home in Parrish.

When they responded to the call, law enforcement had noted that there were red abrasions on her back that she'd initially claimed were from being drug along the outside floor.

According to a memo, Buqueras' wife recanted her statement that her husband had assaulted her, claiming instead that she'd received the marks after she "fell coming out of the pool."

According to the report, Mrs. Buqueras claimed that her behavior was fueled by alcohol and prescribed narcotics.

Buqueras was hired in late 2011 at a base salary of $175,000. Buqueras' compensation package caused controversy when it was revealed that then-port authority board chair (and current Manatee County Commission chair) Larry Bustle had lavished the new director with several unprecedented perks without disclosing to the board that Buqueras had agreed to take less than was offered, before they voted to approve his contract. In August of 2012, the board voted to give him a 5 percent raise.