Cops Corner

Sept. 19
Supermarket scout
11 a.m. — 6500 block of South Tamiami Trail. Suspicious Incident. A teenager working at a supermarket said a middle-aged man approached her. He told her that he had been watching her for a while and asked if she wanted to do any modeling. He gave her a piece of paper with some information on it and told the girl to look him up on the Internet. The girl was intimidated and told the store manager, who later told deputies that the surveillance camera caught an image of the “talent scout.” A deputy searched the Internet for the information on the paper but couldn’t find anything.

Sept. 20
Always be prepared
3:15 p.m. — 3800 block of South Osprey Avenue. Petit Theft. A supermarket manager watched a woman load her shopping cart and walk out the door without paying. He stopped her outside. There was no food in the cart, just $147 worth of hurricane-preparedness supplies. The woman had been prescribed heavy-duty pain medication, and the officer wrote in his report that “it appeared (she) was literally feeling no pain.”

Sept. 21
Swing first, ax questions later
6 a.m. — 800 block of Shore Drive. Burglary and Criminal Mischief. A homeowner discovered someone had broken into a storage container in his carport and stole several landscaping tools, including an ax. The burglar also smashed out the rear window of the homeowner’s Corvette. Deputies discovered fresh footprints that appeared to come from work boots.

Boot scootin’ boogie
Noon — 6500 block of South Tamiami Trail. Petit Theft. A shoe-store manager greeted a woman while she walked through the door. He then watched her as she squatted down in one of the aisles. He asked her if she needed help, and she replied that she was fine. The manager went to the counter to check out another customer, and the woman hurried out the door. The manager looked into the aisle and saw that the shoebox the woman was fiddling with was empty. He chased her down outside and called the sheriff’s office.

Sept. 21
Shutter speed
9:54 p.m. — 1600 block of South Tamiami Trail. Petit Theft. A restaurant owner had placed his laptop on a counter at the back of his restaurant. It sat just below an open window. The restaurant was closed, and the owner and his sister were the only ones in the building, but the computer was stolen. The owner believes someone may have reached through the window and grabbed it.