Cops Corner 11.06.09

Oct. 25
What’s your return policy?
9:15 p.m. — Fort Worth Street and Swift Road. Grand Theft Auto. A young woman, who was using her mother’s car, was at the above address. A friend grabbed the keys out of the young woman’s hands and told her that he’d be right back. However, he did not immediately return. The car was found in Newtown, and the friend was arrested.

Truth seekers
9:39 p.m. — 1000 block of Oak Preserve Lane. Robbery. A teenager called the sheriff’s office to report that he’d been attacked and had his cell phone stolen. But deputies doubted his story. The boy said he was standing in his yard when a car pulled up and an unknown man ran to him, jumped on him and began choking him. While he was being choked, the boy was able to hear his cell phone ring, pull it out of his pocket and answer it. Deputies questioned harder, and the boy finally admitted that he had previously purchased marijuana from the man in the car. The man who drove to his house wanted to see if the boy wanted to buy more. The man jumped him and took $20 and his cell phone. The boy would not say if he owed the drug dealer money. No law-enforcement action was taken.

Oct. 27
Silk stalking
8:05 a.m. — 800 block of South School Avenue. Burglary. The owner of a building that had been used as a school was burglarized, and a large silk-screening machine was stolen. The owner said the $9,000 machine is so heavy that several people would have had to carry it away. No fingerprints were found, and there are no suspects.

What’s your sign?
8:30 a.m. — 40 block of South Palm Avenue. Theft. A jewelry store employee reported someone stole the business’ sign in front of the building.

Lady and the tramp
9:10 a.m. — 50 block of Central Avenue. Dispute. A downtown condo resident got into a argument with a homeless man, who began yelling at her when she told him that he should put his dog on a leash. The woman said the unleashed dog was bothering her two leashed
dogs.

Jewelry heist
9:42 a.m. — 3700 block of Torrey Pines Way. Burglary. A husband and wife returned to their home and noticed that nearly $200,000 worth of jewelry and silver flatware had been stolen. They found a small pry mark on their sliding glass door, and the latch had been broken. The couple said a number of workers had been in their home recently.

No self-serve allowed
10 a.m. — 1900 block of South Tamiami Trail. Theft. The security manager of a store benefiting the disadvantaged said someone has removed 37 bags of donated items since May. The bags are routinely left in front of the store after hours. The suspect was caught on surveillance camera, and the security manager recognized him as someone who had been caught trespassing on the property before. The value of the stolen items was listed at $1,025.

The hard sell
2:15 p.m. — 1400 block of First Street. Suspicious Incident. A store employee said a man walked into the store, offering to clean the tile. The employee told him the tile did not need to be cleaned, but the man did not take “no” for an answer and became more aggressive, insisting that she pay him to clean the tile. The employee became uncomfortable and called the police.