Cops Corner

June 14
Time for a new girlfriend
9:23 a.m. — 5000 block of Flagstone Drive. Vehicle Burglary. A man reported his car was sitting in his driveway overnight, when it was burglarized. He told deputies his girlfriend couldn’t figure out how to lock it, so she left it unlocked. Stolen from the center console were $150 in cash, a credit card and the man’s driver’s license.

If at first you don’t succeed ...
12:17 p.m. — 7400 block of Blaine Way. Civil Disturbance. About two months after a homeowner put her home up for sale and moved out, neighbors told her that a strange woman had begun living in the vacant house. The homeowner had given a key to a friend of hers, so he could cut the grass and watch the home. What he also did was allow his girlfriend to live in the house. The homeowner tried to evict the woman, but the clerk of court told her she could not, because she was not the landlord and did not know who was living in the house. She put up an eviction notice anyway, but the squatter took it down. A few days later the “for sale” sign also disappeared, and the locks had been changed. The squatter told sheriff’s deputies that the homeowner told her she could live in the home. Deputies told the homeowner to try the eviction process again.

June 15
Soft pallets
9:30 p.m. — 8400 block of South Tamiami Trail. Grand Theft. A supermarket manager reported that nearly two dozen pallets had been stolen from behind the store. The manager said it was an ongoing problem. The thief only took pallets that did not have the supermarket’s logo on them. About $1,000 worth of pallets was stolen. Two days later, an employee caught the man loading more pallets onto his truck. Deputies went to the suspect’s house and found 49 pallets there. The manager declined to prosecute the man but had deputies issue him a trespass warning.

June 16
Just hanging out
7:29 a.m. — 20 block of North Lemon Avenue. Disturbance. Complainant said there were six homeless people loitering on the benches next to the shell fountain. One of them was cursing loudly. The complainant wanted the people removed from the area.

June 17
Not happy with their bills
Midnight — 2800 block of Fruitville Road. An electric-company worker was in his work truck when he said he heard what sounded like the rapid succession of gunfire. At that same moment, something hit his windshield. There were impact marks of some kind on the windshield and on both doors. Witnesses told police that there were several people throwing rocks at vehicles in that same area.