Cops Corner

May 12
Time to buy a jewelry box
5 p.m. — 700 block of North Tamiami Trail. Theft. A woman dropped off her Subaru to be serviced. When she picked it up, she noticed something was missing from the car. Not some change she kept in the cup holder or even a couple of CDs in the glove compartment. No, it was the $2,000 gold-and-diamond bracelet she placed in the center console that disappeared. Police are investigating.

May 16
Slow-speed chase
3 p.m. — 8200 block of South Tamiami Trail. Petit Theft. A man riding a SCAT bus watched as another man walked up to the bicycle rack on the front of the bus and stole the first man’s bike. A security guard, who happened to be nearby, saw what happened and chased the bike thief. During the slow-speed pursuit, the man fell off the bike, and the guard caught him. The bike was returned to its owner, and the thief, who has two previous petit theft convictions, was returned to jail.
 

There’s always e-mail
6 p.m. — 5300 Calle Florida. Petit Theft. A homeowner reported someone stole his mailbox and its post sometime during the night.

Chivalry is dead
7:20 p.m. — 13000 block of South Tamiami Trail. Petit Theft and Resisting a Merchant. A man and his girlfriend went shopping at a discount store. Once they walked in the store, the girlfriend went to the restroom, because she felt sick to her stomach. He began shopping, picking up cat food, kitty litter, beer and soda, and walked toward the exit without paying. An employee asked him for his receipt, so he briefly held up a piece of paper and hustled out the door. His girlfriend was outside, and he hurried her to the car. She was in the driver’s seat, but before she could back out, the employee appeared again and asked for a receipt. He told his girlfriend to drive, but she asked him if he actually had a receipt and got out of the car. He jumped in the driver’s seat and backed out of the parking spot, bumping the store employee. He drove off, leaving his girlfriend. Sheriff’s deputies knew where to find him and took him to jail.

May 19
Clothing-optional parking lot
1:10 a.m. — 3501 South Tamiami Trail. Disturbance. A mall security guard noticed two cars next to each other in the parking lot a little after 1 a.m. If the appearance of those parked cars wasn’t unusual enough for the guard, what he saw inside certainly was. In one car was a naked man; in the other, a naked woman. Perhaps they were waiting for the mall to open to buy some clothes.