Cops Corner

March 16
Moving target
12:54 p.m. — 6900 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive (GMD). Property Damage. A real-estate agent told police someone damaged a for-sale sign at one of his listed locations. Police think a moving vehicle hit the sign, knocking it loose from its base.

March 17
Communication breakdown
11:26 p.m. — 3400 block of GMD. Code Enforcement. Police noticed a maroon pickup truck and a maroon trailer that had been sitting near a bayside access point for several days. The couple inside the truck, who was visiting from Quebec, spoke little English. Police tried to explain they had to leave the island and camp somewhere else.

March 18
Visitation rights
10:14 a.m. — 600 block of Sutton Place. Public Service. A man told police he was staying at his father’s rented condominium while his father was in the hospital. But the owner of the unit told the son she didn’t want him staying there because he wasn’t the leaseholder. Police advised the man to seek legal
counsel.

March 19
Family reunion
10:59 a.m. — 3800 block of GMD. Public Service. Police saw a little boy crying in a condominium parking and discovered he couldn’t find his parents. The boy told police that he and his sister ran away from a woman, who had yelled at them for being on her property, and he had gotten lost. Police located the boy’s father fishing just a few feet away and reunited the boy with his family.

Signing off
11:20 a.m. — 5500 block of GMD. Code Enforcement. The town’s code-enforcement officer advised police a man was violating the sign code by waving a sign near the entrance of Joan M. Durante Park. He was trying to entice motorists to attend a plant sale inside the park. When police told the man he was blocking the view of anyone attempting to enter or exit the park, he became upset, gave the sign to police and walked away.

March 20
Sparks fly
12:42 a.m. — 6600 block of GMD. Fire. Police and a fire-rescue crew determined that landscape lights that had arced underneath an exterior staircase had become exposed and caused some sparks. The homeowner was notified of the issue.

Burglar smashes car window
9:14 a.m. — 500 block of Bayview Drive. Vehicle Burglary. A man told police someone broke into his locked Toyota sport utility vehicle by smashing the front-passenger window and stole his wife’s purse, which was sitting on the floorboard. Cash, credit cards, money, a cell phone and an heirloom gold ring were stolen. Nearby, another sport utility vehicle was broken into by the same means, and a $2,500 navigational system was pried from the dashboard, along with personal checks and a digital camera.

Rash of car burglaries
12:01 p.m. — 500 block of Forest Way. Vehicle Burglary. A man told police someone broke into his locked Toyota car by smashing the front passenger window and stole a $200 navigational system. Three other vehicles were broken into at Inn on the Beach as well as near Sands Point Road.

Trespasser trespasses again
7:18 p.m. — 400 block of GMD. Trespassing. A woman who received a trespass warning from the island’s gas station for feeding the cat that lives on the property received a trespass warning from the neighboring property owner, Spindrift Yacht Sales, after she was discovered feeding the cat on its property as well.

March 21
Joy ride
12:56 a.m. — Intersection of GMD and Longboat key Club Road. Public Drunkenness. Police noticed a couple riding bicycles without lights and swerving on the highway while cars were going by in both directions. They told police they had been drinking and were on their way home from a bar on St. Armands Circle. A car almost hit the man three times while he attempted to cross the road to talk to police. He was arrested for refusing to get off his bicycle and obstructing traffic. His girlfriend was given a ride home.

March 23
Home safe and sound
6:45 p.m. — 600 block of Longview Drive. Missing Person. A woman reported that her husband, who has Alzheimer’s disease, drove away in their car, even though she thought she had hidden all the car keys. The man came back home just as police were leaving to look for him.

Traffic control
3:59 p.m. — 10 block of GMD. Assist Other Agency. Police responded to New Pass Bridge to assist traffic flow after one of the bridge’s safety arms malfunctioned.