Cops Corner: East County

The following information was gathered from incident and arrest reports obtained from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

LAKEWOOD RANCH
Reported Oct. 12
3 p.m. — 8604 State Road 70 E. (Hess). Fraudulent use of a credit card. The victim accidentally left his credit card on the counter at a service station while paying for gas. After the victim left, an unknown suspect allegedly took the card and used it at Racetrack, McDonald’s and Sunoco, totaling $84.49 in fraudulent charges. The victim’s bank notified him about the unusual charge pattern and the credit card was cancelled immediately.

SARASOTA
Oct. 16
1:58 p.m. — Intersection of Honore Avenue and University Parkway (parking lot). Assist. A vehicle was parked at the rear of the shopping complex when a fire began to smolder inside the vehicle. The Southern Manatee Fire Rescue Battalion chief has taken over the investigation.

OTHER
Oct. 14
8:30 p.m. — 3300 block of 49th Avenue E. Burglary of a conveyance. Unknown person(s) entered a vehicle through an unlocked driver’s side door and removed several items. The person(s) then left the area in an unknown direction of travel.

Oct. 18
12:45 p.m. — 2911 53rd Ave. E. (Walmart). Retail grand theft. A male suspect selected $654.98 in merchandise while a female suspect selected $34.88 in merchandise. The two parties had split up within the store and allegedly did not work together to steal the items. The suspects then passed all points of sale without purchasing the items they had selected.

3:30 p.m. — 2911 53rd Ave. E. (Walmart). Retail theft second or subsequent. The defendant selected items from the store then left the store without purchasing the items. The suspect has two prior convictions for theft. She also reportedly had needles and a crack pipe with her that she threw under the seat in the loss prevention room. The suspect was arrested and transported without incident.

Oct. 19
8:05 p.m. — 2600 block of 27th Street E. Possession of marijuana less than 20 grams. While the responding deputy was driving south on 27th Street E. at 13th Avenue, a vehicle cut in front of him and almost caused him to crash into it. The deputy ran the tag on the vehicle and it came back expired as of Sept. 26. When the deputy stopped the vehicle and approached the driver’s door, he reported that he could smell a heavy odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle. The deputy called for backup. He observed the suspect moving around and leaning forward while he was talking to the driver behind her car. The deputy pulled all of the occupants out of the vehicle. He searched the vehicle and found marijuana where the suspect had been leaning foward. The deputy obtained an affidavit from the driver saying she had seen the suspect with a marijuana grinder containing marijuana. The suspect was placed under arrest. The deputy cut him a break and charged him just with possession of the marijuana and not with possession of paraphernalia.