Cops Corner 08.26.10

Aug. 16
Problem pavers
6:24 a.m. — 200 block of South Palm Avenue. Criminal Mischief. Brick pavers were placed in the roadway, and lanes in both directions were blocked. Looks like beavers are taking lessons from the Three Little Pigs.

You’ll pay
11:23 p.m. — 4000 block of Clark Road. Petit Theft. When a homeless man left a restaurant without paying, a restaurant employee chased him down the street. The man ducked into the woods and disappeared. The sheriff’s office called out its helicopter and K-9s to track him down. The helicopter detected a heat source, which turned out to be the suspect. He was captured and taken to jail. The grand total of the bill he skipped out on — $40.

Aug. 17
Shattered image
3:02 a.m. — 2600 block of Mall Drive. Criminal Mischief. A man left a bar with friends. Two hours later, he discovered his backpack was missing, and he believed he may have left it at the bar. The three returned, and the manager said he would check for the backpack. The bar was closed, so the three men weren’t allowed inside. The manager was unable to find the backpack. The man became angry that he couldn’t look for it himself, and he punched the bar’s front window, shattering it. The man ran away, and deputies were unable to find him.

Just scratched the surface
10:20 a.m. — 300 block of Bearded Oaks Circle. Criminal Mischief. A woman woke up to find several scratches intentionally left on her car. The previous day, she got into an argument with a neighbor about driving on freshly paved roads. The woman felt the neighbor may have something to do with the scratches, but police interviewed the neighbor and determined she did not cause the damage. There are no other suspects.

Returning to the scene
12:20 p.m. — 3500 block of South Tamiami Trail. Shoplifting. Two weeks ago, a young man was seen inside a department store grabbing a Polo shirt and rushing out of the store. A manager caught the suspect, grabbed the shirt back and yelled at him never to come back. The young man did not heed that advice. He returned to the same store, and a different employee caught him stuffing six Polo shirts into a bag from a different store. She tried to walk him back to the office, and he dropped the bag and ran out of the store. The manager who caught him the first time was outside and saw the young man ride away on a bicycle.

Phone predator
11:24 p.m. — 700 block of Colt Lane. Harassing Phone Calls. A 16-year-old girl received two calls from a blocked number. She didn’t answer either. But the callers left a voicemail. A male and female voice threatened her with a sexual assault and then threatened the life of her and her dog. The girl told police she didn’t believe she had any enemies. The phone company is being asked to try to track the phone number.

Aug. 18
Love hurts
4:54 a.m. — 4900 Primrose Path. Battery. The following is taken directly from a sheriff’s office report a 27-year-old woman filed. The names have been changed. “Bob got mad at me, because he wanted to sleep with my friend, Cindy. Bob asked for me to leave, and I refused. Bob then grabbed me in a cradled position and carried me from the bedroom to the front door and threw me outside onto the ground.”