Wife of Allman Brothers founder in jail after waving rifle at rowers

The wife of a founding member of the Allman Brothers is now serving time behind bars after she pleaded no contest to waving a rifle at rowers earlier this year.

Donna Betts, wife of Dickey Betts, was arrested and charged with 18 counts of aggravated assault with a firearm after the March 27 incident, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office.

She pleaded no contest to just one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill and was adjudicated guilty, records show. The other charges were dropped.

Betts was sentenced to spend 30 days in the Sarasota County jail and four-and-a-half years of probation. She was given credit for two days of time served.

Betts was ordered to complete a 90-day residential treatment program and turn herself in to the jail by Oct. 3, according to court records. She was booked into the jail that day.

Deputies were called to a home in the 400 block of Palmetto Avenue around 5:30 p.m. March 27 on reports of a woman aiming a gun at members of a rowing team of young adults and teens who were practicing on the water, according to the sheriff’s office.

Betts pointed the gun at the team members and coaches, threatening to shoot them if they came on to her property, according to the probable cause affidavit.

The interaction was caught on video.

Cell phone video showed Betts standing on the dock holding a rifle and yelling at the rowers to “stay off her property,” according to the PCA. At the end of the video, she threw the rifle into the water and went into her home. Officials later recovered it.

Records show Betts had called 911 around 5:43 that day saying rowers “have destroyed” her life and she has “had it.”

This story was originally published October 10, 2017 at 6:22 AM with the headline "Wife of Allman Brothers founder in jail after waving rifle at rowers."