Cops Corner

May 17
The envelope, please
8 a.m. — 4200 block of East Oakhurst Circle. Criminal Mischief. Someone tried to pry open the central mailbox system at a condo complex. The mail carrier was about to deliver mail when he noticed the damage. The suspect was not able to get into the residents’ mailboxes, but the condo association had to pay $40 to replace the lock.

May 18
How low can you go?
12:32 p.m. — 1500 block of Main Street. Petit Theft. A woman was inside a coffee shop talking to an acquaintance about her cancer diagnosis. A man sitting at another table leaned into the conversation and began chatting about the medial condition. The two women walked outside for a short time and left their purses at the table. When they went back to the table, the man was gone, and so was the cancer patient’s wallet. Surveillance video showed the man reaching in her purse, taking the wallet and walking out the door. The woman’s bank told her that her credit card was used at a nearby liquor store.

That’s a load of garbage
3:06 p.m. — 900 block of Siesta Drive. Illegal Dumping. Complainant told police that someone threw trash into his garbage can. The nerve!

Case is all sewn up
5:56 p.m. — 4100 block of South Tamiami Trail. Petit Theft. A cashier at a pizza place said he had a hole in his pants, so he had placed his wallet on the counter to make sure it wouldn’t fall out of his pants. He was talking to a regular customer and walked away to use the restroom. When he returned, the customer was gone, and his wallet had been moved. The cashier opened the wallet and saw that $50 was missing. The cashier gave the sheriff’s office contact information for the customer.

You’re not from around here
7:24 p.m. — 2500 block of Casey Key Road. Suspicious Person. A homeowner called to report two strangers walking down the road and thought they might be casing homes for a later burglary. Sheriff’s deputies were unable to find the two men.

Disco divas
1:45 a.m. — 3500 block of Fruitville Road. Suspicious Incident. Someone called the police to report six cars in a parking lot with loud music blaring and four or five women dancing provocatively.

May 19
Cross-dressing thieves
12:15 a.m. — 3900 block of South Tamiami Trail. Theft. Two men walked into a drug store, stuffed 28 dresses down their pants and ran out the front door. The store manager is providing surveillance video to see if the suspects can be identified. But the crime has Cops Corner asking several questions. 1. How big were their pants to be able to hold 28 dresses? 2. With 28 dresses in their pants, how quickly could the suspects have been running? 3. Are drug-store dresses a hot commodity?

Reserve tank
12:28 a.m. — 5600 block of Clark Road. Suspicious Person. A caller told the sheriff’s office that a man was relieving himself on the side of a building. It was a diner-type restaurant. The caller said he had been there for 20 minutes. Now that’s a lot of coffee.