Cops Corner: Sarasota

Aug. 1
Tip of the iceberg
9:25 a.m. — 1800 block of South Osprey Avenue. Theft. A restaurant manager discovered one of his waitresses was altering customers’ credit-card charges. She would change the amount of the tip, so she would receive more from her customers. In May, she altered seven transactions for $10. In June, she changed 33 charges for $99, and in July, she collected $198 from 31 altered transactions. The woman was fired the day the theft was discovered.

Father doesn’t know best
1:27 p.m. — 1000 block of Azinger Way. Negligent Treatment of a Child. Golf-course employees say a man has been leaving his 9-year-old son unattended in the clubhouse restaurant while he plays golf. An officer saw the boy curled up on some chairs put together and covered with a tablecloth. The father has apparently been doing this three times a week for about a month. Dad told the officer that he leaves the boy in the clubhouse, because he can no longer afford to pay for the boy’s summer camp.

Gun control
5:36 p.m. — Mound Street. Suspicious Incident. Someone spotted a gun lying in the road. An officer arrived and saw it was a toy gun that had since been demolished.

Retrieval process
7:44 p.m. — 2300 block of Gull Lane. Trespassing. A mother called police to report five kids, who knew her daughter, were at her house and were harassing both her and her daughter. The four girls and one boy were shouting and banging on the door. An officer arrived and asked the kids what they were doing. One girl said she had been staying at the house and wanted to retrieve some of her belongings — a few drawings, a cell phone and a few articles of clothing. The boy said he left a hair iron in the home. The two were able to recover their belongings.

I’m on his tail
8:47 p.m. — 3600 block of Colorado Street. Vehicle Burglary. A woman was driving through the intersection of Beneva Road and 17th Street, when she saw a minivan traveling recklessly down the road. She called police to report that it was weaving in and out of lanes and even into oncoming traffic. The van almost hit the woman’s car, so she began to follow it. She trailed the driver for more than a mile, until the car stopped in a driveway. The woman parked a few houses away. The jig was up, however. The van’s driver walked over to her car and tried to get inside. She had locked her doors. He then tried to break the passenger-side window. The woman left the area unharmed.

Aug. 2
On the prowl
1:05 a.m. — 1700 block of Cherokee Drive. Trespassing. Three kids were loitering in a yard. They were running around on the grass and on the porch. The homeowner called police. The boys told officers they were bored, so they decided to see some girls. Of course, everyone knows there’s no better way to attract the opposite sex than running in circles at 1 a.m.

Out of the way!
11:20 a.m. — 100 block of South School Avenue. Dispute. A young man told police he was walking along the road, when a motorcyclist intentionally tried to hit him. The young man’s father immediately got into an argument with the motorcyclist. The rider told police that he was making a U-turn, and didn’t make any contact with anyone. The young man was not injured.

They forgot the floss
4:30 p.m. — 2700 block of South Tamiami Trail. Theft. A dentist’s office had a Tube Dude statue in front of its building. It portrayed a man holding a toothbrush. The dentists arrived at work to discover the Tube Dude was damaged. Surveillance video showed two kids trying to steal the entire statue, not realizing it was cemented to the ground. Instead, they pried loose the toothbrush and took it. Be on the lookout for a kid brushing his teeth with a 2-foot metal brush with a yellow handle and orange bristles.

Aug. 3
Nursing that drink?
12:35 a.m. — 2100 block of South Tamaimi Trail. Driving Under the Influence. A woman was in her car, which was parked illegally at the above address, when a police officer came upon her. Her eyes were glassy and watery, so the officer suspected she was drunk. In trying to determine if she was intoxicated, he made the following observations: the scent of alcohol was stronger when she was speaking than when her mouth was closed; the woman had poor balance; her speech was slurred; and she was not wearing shoes or a shirt. She told the officer she was a nurse and just wanted to go out for a drink.