Cops Corner

Jan. 7
Sweet little girl
9 p.m. — 8200 block of South Tamiami Trail. Battery. A 13-year-old girl began yelling at a 14-year-old girl, because she didn’t like the way that the older girl looked at her. The 14-year-old turned and walked away. The 13-year-old grabbed the girl’s hair and began slapping her in the face. The younger girl was arrested.

Jan. 8
Shoulder to lean on
5:26 a.m. — 2900 block of Oak Street. Criminal Mischief. An officer responding to a report of a broken car window found an extremely cooperative suspect upon arrival. The suspect walked toward the officer and yelled, “Go ahead and take me. Arrest me. I broke out her window.” The man then put his hands behind his back. After being handcuffed, the man said he broke the car window with a shovel, because he didn’t like his wife hanging out with the car’s owner. The wife was upset with her husband, she said, because he didn’t seem to care that she had a life-threatening disease. She told the officer that she went to visit the owner of the damaged car, because she needed to talk to a friend.

Mother’s intuition
2:09 p.m. — 1300 block of South Tamiami Trail. Petit Theft Shoplifting. A supermarket employee jotted down the license plate of a car that sped away from the store. Inside the car was a 27-year-old man who stole some groceries — four bags of Brach’s candy, a case of Bud Light and a tub of cream cheese. The car belonged to the man’s mother. She told police that her son was driving the car and then called her son and instructed him to return the food and beer or go to jail. He listened to his mother.

Jan. 10
Stone-cold busted
10:51 a.m. — 1200 block of South Tamiami Trail. Petit Theft Shoplifting. A woman was arrested for stealing three healing stones from a specialty store. She was with a friend, and both actually made some purchases. But when the two women walked to the exit door, the alarm sounded. The three rocks, worth $12.50, were found in the thief’s purse. She told an officer she didn’t know why she had stolen the stones. Police say she had enough cash on her to purchase the items.

What a sicko
3:01 p.m. — 1 block of Bayfront Drive. Suspicious Person. Complainant reported a young man was vomiting in a marina’s parking lot. The 18-year-old told an officer that he had been drinking and got sick. His mom was called to pick him up and take him home.

Entry-level position
11:23 p.m. — 1400 block of Main Street. Battery. A man tried to bribe a bouncer into allowing the man’s girlfriend in a bar, even though she didn’t have identification. The bouncer refused, and the man got angry. He told the bartender if he didn’t let his girlfriend into the bar, he was going to come back with 15 friends and “cause some trouble.” The bouncer again said no. The man punched him in the face, jumped into a car and drove away.

Jan. 11
Auntie Dearest
2:19 p.m. — 3900 block of Freedom Avenue. Aggravated Assault and Criminal Mischief. A teenager said his maternal aunt came to his home, slashed his mother’s car with a large hunting knife and then threatened him with that knife. He told deputies that he was inside his home, when he heard a couple of popping sounds. He and his brother opened the door and saw their aunt standing next to the car, which had rapidly deflating tires. The boy’s aunt then pointed the knife at him and made stabbing motions. He and his brother ran back into the house. The aunt then broke out two of the home’s front windows with her fist. She ran away with a bloody hand.