State Attorney: Goldstein will not be prosecuted

After four months of review by the State Attorney’s Office, it has been decided that Keith Goldstein will not be prosecuted on sworn affidavits from five people at the Riverview Club who allege that he had become more and more aggressive in his harassment of them.

In a battle that has been ongoing for some time between a group of St. Augustine Shores property owners, including Goldstein, and St. Augustine Shores Service Corporation, the homeowner association managers, it seemed that Goldstein’s arrest in February would put an end to the drama. Maybe not.

Prior to the Goldstein arrest, he had been given a trespass warning by the management at the Shores that was later determined to have been issued in error. Once Goldstein learned the warning could not be enforced, it apparently emboldened him to continue his threatening behavior towards women who worked in the business office of the Association.

According to the incident report that led to his arrest, for more than a year, “Goldstein has made repeated verbal and non verbal gestures towards the condominium’s management and office staff that have placed them in fear for their safety.”

As a result, Goldstein was placed under arrest and charged with stalking – a first degree misdemeanor. Goldstein was issued a Sheriff’s Office Trespass Warning for the Riverview Club and its property in an effort to deter, what the reporting officer described as a “course of unacceptable and harassing conduct.” Goldstein was released the following day in lieu of $12,500 bond.

“It is very apparent at this time,” one deputy wrote, that “Goldstein has no intention of ceasing his behavior without Law Enforcement and Judicial intervention.”

Several members of the community, including Goldstein, have alleged extortive methods used by St. Augustine Shores Service Corporation to collect Association late fees as well as other “breaches of loyalty and trust” by members of the community’s Board of Directors; most seriously, alleged misappropriation of homeowner association funds.

Before his arrest, Goldstein told Historic City News that there had been an “exhaustive investigation” conducted into the internal operations of the governing body of the St. Augustine Shores community.

“As a result of the investigation,” Goldstein said, “St. John’s Law Group has been retained to represent the interests of the homeowners in a civil action.”

Goldstein called for a Town Hall meeting to expose his findings and attorney Douglas Burnett, Managing Partner of the St. John’s Law Group, was to be in attendance just days before Goldstein’s arrest.