Cops Corner 03.04.10

Feb. 23
Warning to residents
6:44 p.m. — 7800 Bergamo Drive. Suspicious Incident. A young girl told deputies that the same man has been following her for weeks as she walks home from school. She said sometimes he lurks in the bushes watching her. She describes him as a white man in his late 40s or early 50s, about 6 feet tall, average build, with salt-and-pepper hair.

Feb. 24
Home invasion
1:34 a.m. — 4000 block of Radnor Place. Robbery. The two victims were sitting in a living room with a friend they only know as “Kilo.” As they were talking, a gun-toting stranger burst through an unlocked door and demanded everyone put their belongings into a black bag. One of the victims handed over $27,000 in cash. The stranger took off with the loot.

Parallel parking
5:21 a.m. — 400 block of South Palm Avenue. Suspicious Person. The complainant called police to report a man lying down in a parking spot on the street. It was not revealed if he was doubled parked.

Patio problem
11:45 a.m. — 4100 block of Crabtree Avenue. Disturbance. A woman called sheriff’s deputies to complain about a neighbor who is constantly naked on his patio. He spends about 20 minutes on the patio sans clothing. The woman said sometimes she’s out on her own patio with her infant children, when she sees her neighbor. She said he doesn’t make any lewd gestures, but she believes he knows she’s there because he looks in her direction. She describes him as a being in his late 30s, average height and overweight.

Intimidation factor
6:18 p.m. — 1800 block of South Tamiami Trail. Dispute. A man called police because as he approached a gas station, he encountered a Rottweiler tied to a light pole near the restroom door. The man said the dog intimidated him as he walked in and out of the restroom. The man confronted the dog’s owner, telling him that the dog was too vicious and aggressive. The dog and his owner were gone by the time police arrived. The man could not tell the officer anything in particular that the dog did to be intimidating, but he felt the Rottweiler fell under the “felony vicious dog act” and that the handler needed to be “dealt with.”

Feb. 25
Tow jam
1:25 a.m. — 3800 block of Greenway Drive. Civil Problem. A tow-truck driver got into a dispute with the driver of a car that was about to be towed.

The driver had gone to his friend’s apartment complex late at night to watch a sporting event on television.
The apartment complex requires any guest parking there after midnight to have a parking pass, but no one works late at night to issue parking passes. The friend told police that it’s not fair for the cars to be towed. The driver, however, was not the owner of the car, so the officer could not release the car to him, and the tow-truck driver took it away.