Cops Corner

Sept. 19
Don’t trust the Gorton’s fisherman
12:11 p.m. — 1400 block of John Ringling Parkway. Petit Theft. A woman said someone stole a spear gun from her pool deck. The weapon was sitting in a bucket on the deck, which is not enclosed and backs up to a seawall. She said someone on a boat would have easy access to her pool area.

Sept. 20
Oil, that is
9:15 a.m. — Clark Road and Nutmeg Avenue. Suspicious Incident. An anonymous caller told sheriff’s deputies that someone was dumping something down a storm drain. The fire department was also called, and it discovered a small amount of oil in the drain. Hazmat crews were called to remove the oil.

Abandonment issues
2:30 p.m. — 4100 block of Central Sarasota Parkway. Family Disturbance. A woman and her ex-boyfriend were throwing a birthday party for their daughter. The couple got into a car and went to the store to get some items for the party. During the drive, they got into an argument. The woman, who was driving, stopped the car, got out and ordered the ex-boyfriend to get out, too, because she wasn’t going to take him back to the party. He did get out of the car, but he got back in on her side and drove away, leaving her standing on the side of the road. A sheriff’s deputy took her back to the party, where her ex-boyfriend was picking up his daughter and their other children to take with him. The deputy said no crime occurred.

Sept. 21
Under lock and key
Noon — 700 block of South Osprey Avenue. Petit Theft. An elderly woman at an assisted-living facility reported someone stole $250 from her locked nightstand. There are only two keys — one on a strap attached to the woman’s wrist and another that is hidden in her room. The woman’s friend believes a staff member may have crept into her room at night and removed the key from her wrist to steal the money, but because the theft could have also happened when the woman was in the facility’s dining room, there are no obvious suspects.

Keep the towel … please
6:41 p.m. — 3900 block of Central Sarasota Parkway. Suspicious Person. A homeless man walked into a tanning salon and asked the clerk if she could give him something to wipe his leg. She gave him a towel, and then he asked if she could wet the towel for him. He also asked for 12 cents and the use of her phone. The clerk began feeling uncomfortable and asked the man to leave. He walked outside, but stayed on the curb right in front of salon’s door. Sheriff’s deputies asked the man to leave and he did.
 

Sept. 22
Spell check needed
9:30 a.m. — 50 block of Central Avenue. Uttering a Forged Instrument. A woman was caught trying to cash a forged check at a bank. She wrote out the check for $789, and she probably would have gotten the cash if not for one thing — she did not spell the account holder’s name correctly on the signature
line.Sept. 23