BRADENTON BEACH – What began as a battery charge over a spilled bottle of vodka has turned into William Clayton Corbitt’s conviction on battery and witness tampering.
Corbitt, 41, a homeless man, pled no contest to felony battery and tampering with a witness on July 30, according to Manatee County Clerk of Circuit Court records. He was adjudicated guilty and placed on probation for 24 months with credit for time served in county jail. He also was ordered to complete an eight-week anger management class and perform 100 hours of community service work.
On June 2, 2019, Bradenton Beach police responded to a fight in progress at Coquina Beach. They found the victim, Michael Ravenscraft, covered in blood from a large gash on his face. Marine rescue workers responded to treat his injuries, then took him to Blake Hospital for stitches and further treatment.
Before being transported by EMS, Ravenscraft told police that he had been sitting with a friend at a picnic table when Corbitt approached him. Corbitt and Ravenscraft talked about splitting a bottle of vodka but Ravenscraft left with the bottle, then returned and told Corbitt he had dropped it and there wasn’t any left in the bottle. An altercation then took place after Corbitt became upset about the missing vodka. He picked up a broken tree branch and struck Ravenscraft in the face, causing what the police report called “permanent disfigurement” to Ravenscraft.
Corbitt had fled the scene, but was located minutes later hiding under the Cortez bridge where he was arrested by Bradenton Beach police and taken to jail. A witness on the scene confirmed that Corbitt was the aggressor.
The Manatee County State Attorney’s Office filed the case, and on Feb. 24, 2021, recorded calls from jail showed that Corbitt attempted to tamper with the victim in order to compel him not to testify.
“Listen pops, I’m facing a PBL (punishable by life offense),” said Corbitt in the jail call to an unknown person. He went on to say that he was going to file for a speedy trial because if the prosecution didn’t have a warm body to testify, they would have to drop the case, according to court records. The defendant then told the subject on the phone to get somebody to help if he could.
