Cops Corner: Sarasota

Oct. 28
Tag, you’re it
5 p.m. — 2100 block of South Tamiami Trail. Criminal Mischief. A doctor’s office employee showed police where someone sprayed red paint graffiti on the side of the building.

Oct. 31
Parking problems
4:50 p.m. — 900 block of Boulevard of the Arts. Illegal Parking. Police observed three mini-van taxicabs parked in a no-parking zone. They were sent on their way with a warning.

Where’s the fire?
10:52 p.m. — 1100 block of North Tuttle Avenue. Assist Other Agency. Police responded to a report of a possible structure fire at a restaurant. The Sarasota County Fire Department couldn’t locate any sign of a fire.

Nov. 1
Sound of silence
6 a.m. — 3300 block of South Osprey Avenue. Noise Violation. An anonymous person reported loud music coming from an apartment. Upon arrival, no music was heard from the apartment, and the man inside denied he was playing loud music.

Makeshift residences
6:44 p.m. — 600 block of Golden Gate Point. Suspicious Person. Police said a homeless man, who continues to build a thatch hut on top of a seawall, had built another one. Police made plans to have the Public Works Department remove it again.

Nov. 2
Abandonment issues
2:38 p.m. — 300 block of Orange Avenue. Suspicious Circumstance. Police noticed an elderly man park his car in the middle of the southbound lane and begin walking northbound on Orange Street.

Nov. 4
Snack attack
4:20 a.m. — 1300 block of Boulevard of the Arts. Grand Theft. An employee reported a man entering the building and trying to pry open a vending machine. The woman showed police video footage of the incident, which showed the man attempting to pry open the machine several times before leaving. Fingerprints were lifted from the snack machine.

Bait and switch
12:13 p.m. — 700 block of John Ringling Causeway. Suspicious Person. Someone reported a man fishing in a clearly marked no-fishing zone. Police found the man, and he promised to fish somewhere else.

Nov. 5
Not-so-fast food
3 a.m. — 3500 block of Fruitville Road. Trespassing. A man was too impatient to receive his late-night snack at a fast-food restaurant and decided to reach over the counter and touch the computer screen in an attempt to process his own order. The man was trespassed from the property.

Nov. 6
Say what?
3:07 a.m. — 100 block of Golden Gate Point. Noise Violation. A man agreed to turn his music down — after he figured out what police were trying to tell him through the noise.

Nov. 7
Refund policy
3:30 p.m. — 4000 block of South Tamiami Trail. Dispute. A woman got upset when an electronics store employee asked for her driver’s license to complete her refund transaction. She demanded to speak to a manager and began filming the employees because she said they were laughing at her. The woman screamed at an employee to stop touching her, when he shielded his face from the camera on her phone. The store’s surveillance video shows that no employee touched her, and there was no evidence to move forward.

Face recognition
7:20 p.m. — 3900 block of South Tamiami Trail. Shoplifting. A woman fled a liquor store with a bottle of tequila and a bottle of vodka. A patron in the store recognized the shoplifter, and police made plans to track her down after her name was released.

Sugar rush
8 p.m. — 1800 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Suspicious Person. A convenience store clerk said a woman paying for a pack of cigarettes became irate when the clerk confronted her about the Twix bar and can of 7UP she hid under her jacket. She placed the items on the counter and left the store. When police find her, she will be trespassed from the property.

Beer bust
9:18 p.m. — 1500 block of First Street. Trespassing. Police saw a man passed out in the City Hall parking lot next to a Gatorade bottle — full of beer. He awoke and was issued a ticket for possession of alcohol. He was trespassed from the property.