Cops Corner

Nov. 15
Explicit texts
10:18 a.m. — 2500 block of Trinidad Street. Lewd Acts. A teenage girl told deputies that someone she knows sent her text message photos of his private parts. He also sent messages asking her to send provocative photos of herself. The girl said she is scared of what the guy might do.

About face
11:07 a.m. — 4500 block of MacEachen Boulevard. Burglary. An elderly woman was getting ready to take her dog for a walk when she noticed a young man enter her lanai and head toward her sliding-glass door. The man spotted the woman and took off running. A deputy tried tracking the man with his K-9 but couldn’t catch him. Two fingerprints were lifted from the lanai door.

Bogus bills
2:30 p.m. — 1000 block of South Euclid Avenue. General Suspicion. An elementary-school lunch lady discovered two $5 bills in her drawer that were counterfeit. She remembered the girl who used them to pay for lunch. Police were called and asked the girl where she got the money. The girl said she took it off her mother’s dresser before school and that she knew it was fake, because her mother told her it was. The girl told police that her mother uses “that kind of money” all the time when she pays the babysitter, because she wants to use real money for groceries. She said her mom gets the counterfeit money out of the attic whenever she needs it, and there is a lot of it. The girl also said her mother’s landlord also comes over to get the fake money, too.

Jimmy Choo, where are you?
4:50 p.m. — 1300 block of Thornapple Drive. Grand Theft. A woman told deputies that UPS had left a box at her front door, but when she returned home it was no longer there. Inside the box were three pairs of shoes valued at $400.

Credit check
5:59 p.m. — 4400 block of Swift Road. Credit Card Theft. A senior citizen reported that someone had stolen his credit card. He suspected a neighbor who helps him with various tasks took the card to buy cigarettes and beer.

Nov. 16
No beer for you!
6 p.m. — 8200 block of South Tamiami Trail. Battery. A restaurant’s bartender overheard one of his customers, who was drinking a beer, tell others that he did not have his wallet with him. The customer then told the bartender the same thing, so the bartender grabbed the beer and poured it out. The customer became irate and began swearing at the bartender. Hoping to get the man out of the restaurant, the bartender asked the man if he wanted to step outside. Once outside, the man threw two roundhouse punches that the bartender was able to duck, but a third punch connected. The man took off on a bicycle. The bartender was not hurt.

Failing grade
8:23 p.m. — Midnight Pass Road and Commonwealth Drive. Driving Under the Influence. A deputy stopped a suspected drunk driver and performed several sobriety tests, which the man failed. When trying to walk a straight line, the driver stopped midway and leaned against his car, saying, “tired.” He tried again to make 13 consecutive steps. He stepped off the line and walked back to the starting point and said, “thirteen.” The driver also could not balance on one leg. He admitted to having a couple of drinks and was taken to jail.