Cops Corner

Sept. 27
Jarhead
2:28 p.m. — 3400 block of Clark Road. Petit Theft. A sandwich-shop employee allowed a man to use the store’s phone. The employee recognized the man, because he often hangs out in front of the shop. The phone is located near the counter, where a tip jar sits. After the man hung up the phone and left, the employee noticed the tip jar was empty. Just before the man walked into the store, the employee noticed that there was $10 in the jar. Nobody else was in the store at the time. Deputies were unable to immediately locate the man.

Face off
6 p.m. — 7300 block of South Tamiami Trail. Theft. A car dealership reported that someone had removed the entire front end of a 2005 Lexus on its lot. There were no suspects or witnesses.

Strip search
6:04 p.m. — 8400 block of South Tamiami Trail. Petit Theft. A discount-store security guard had been watching on surveillance camera the aisle that contains diabetic test strips, because other stores have recently seen thefts of thousands of dollars worth of those products. He saw a woman and man place several test strips into a bag that was hidden under a shirt. When the guard confronted the woman, she bit him on the arm and the guard wrestled her to the ground. The man ran to a car and drove away. The woman was taken to jail, but it was the same man who showed up to bail her out. The arresting deputy recognized him and placed him under arrest, too.

Sept. 29
Tour de crash
6:24 a.m. — Tamiami Trail. Suspicious Incident. An SUV driving down U.S. 41 struck a bicycle, which was in the middle of the road, and the bike became stuck under the vehicle. Luckily, there was no one riding the bicycle.

To the doctor … stat
7:45 a.m. — 3500 block of South Tamiami Trail. Dispute. A bus driver complained that she was having trouble with a passenger who was causing a disturbance. Police caught up with the bus and asked the man what the problem was. He said he wasn’t causing a disturbance, he was just in pain and was on his way to his doctor’s office.

Severance package
11:30 a.m. — 1 block of North Tamiami Trail. Petit Theft. While a secretary was out at lunch, someone took her checkbook off of her desk. It contained seven blank checks. She told police it was the second theft in the office in as many months. She has noticed an employee hanging out on her side of the building, who has rarely been there before. She heard that he is going to be fired soon and suspects he is the one who stole the checks.