Last call at Dunedin bar leads to arrest

DUNEDIN — It's a story that's probably as old as civilization itself. A guy doesn't want to leave a bar. Trouble ensues. But the case of Bradley Jesperson, a 51-year-old Clearwater man who was expelled from a tiki lounge Sunday night, had an unlikely informant: Jesperson himself. According to reports, Jesperson had previous arrests in Pinellas County on charges including battery on an elderly person and illicit possession of prescription drugs. On Sunday night, he found himself at the Marker 8 bar in Dunedin at last call. Refused service, Jesperson "refused to pay his tab and threatened the bartender with a pen," according to an arrest affidavit from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. The bartender then "physically removed" him from Marker 8. What happened next? "The defendant called the police because he was upset," according to the arrest report. When a sheriff's deputy arrived, Jesperson was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. He was released from the Pinellas County Jail on $150 bond.