Cops Corner: Sarasota

Aug. 18
Addiction is king
3:55 p.m. — 300 block of North Orange Avenue. Shoplifting. A convenience-store clerk told police that man a stole a carton of Newport King cigarettes valued at $60.96, before fleeing on a green bicycle.

Aug. 19
Hairy situation
8:38 a.m. — 100 block of South Palm Avenue. Criminal Mischief. A woman reported that her salon sign had been vandalized by profanity for the second time. She told police she had video on her computer proving that an employee at a neighboring salon marked the sign the first time. When police asked for the video, she declined to give it to them and said she didn’t want her computer to leave the salon. Police advised her the matter would be resolved if she put the sign in her salon before she locked up each night.

Aug. 21
Cinematic sparks
1:03 a.m. — 1900 block of Main Street. Juvenile Act. A movie theater employee told police that five teenagers were sitting in the back of one of the theaters, lighting napkins on fire and throwing them at other theater patrons. The teenagers fled the area before the officers arrived.

Feeding frenzy
5:19 p.m. — 2700 block of Arlington Street. Suspicious Person. A man called police to report a suspicious woman was feeding cats on a residential property that appeared to be vacant. Tax collector records, however, showed the woman was one of two property owners.

Aug. 22
Draining theft
8 a.m. – 1100 block of North Gulfstream Avenue. Theft. A woman told police that she believes one of two plumbers who entered her apartment stole her $14,000 solitaire diamond ring from a dish next to her bathroom sink when they replaced a shower valve. When the condominium maintenance man called and told the company “no questions would be asked” if the ring was returned safely, the company representative said, “We didn’t take anything off the counter top.” The maintenance man did not tell the company representative the ring had been sitting on the counter before it was stolen. The response prompted police to begin an investigation and monitor closely surveillance video.

Conspiracy theory
1:25 p.m. — 200 block of South Orange Avenue. Harassing Phone Calls. The office manager of a Sarasota law firm said a man, whom her firm does not represent, keeps sending her threatening text messages. She said the man is upset because his grandfather did not leave him anything in his will and he thinks the law firm is to blame.

Reference point
1:30 p.m. — 1300 block of First Street. Theft. A man reported that someone stole his Florida driver’s license and Social Security card from the Selby Public Library after he left the cards near the reference section to find a book.

Oak outrage
7:30 p.m. — 4600 block of Summerwind Drive. Suspicious Circumstance. A woman returned to her Chrysler PT Cruiser to find the windshield smashed. Upon investigation, police discovered a circle of pine tree sap and residue on the shattered glass and blamed the incident on a pinecone tree attack.

Just visiting
10:30 p.m. — 1800 block of Morrill Street. Suspicious Circumstance. A man told police that a suspicious looking woman was panhandling near his apartment complex. The woman denied the accusation, and she had a group of people around her to backup her claim that she was visiting friends.

Aug. 23
Over exposed
12:01 a.m. — 1600 block of Arlington Street. Stalking. A woman told police she woke up to find 90 “friend messages” on her computer from strangers who were hoping to meet her. The woman discovered they wanted to meet her because her ex-boyfriend posted three sexually explicit photos of her on a personals website. She said the ex-boyfriend had been stalking her for months, and police recommended she seek legal help to get the photos removed from the
website.

The door is always open
12:27 p.m. — 2300 block of South Osprey Avenue. Suspicious Circumstance. A man told police he was certain someone entered his truck because the driver’s side door was not closed all the way. The man, however, also admitted that the door never closes all the way, because the doorframe and door don’t match up. He said he doesn’t bother to lock the door because it doesn’t close.

Charge card
3:35 p.m. — 1900 block of Orange Street. Suspicious Circumstance. A man told police that the owner of a grocery store refused to give his ID back to him after she found it in the store unless he paid a $4 lost and found fee. When police approached the woman, she laughed and said she was only joking with the man. The woman gave the ID to the police officer and waived the recovery fee. She wanted to talk to the man to smooth things over, but he declined her request for fear that he would be assessed more charges.

Aug. 29
Hide and seek
10:03 p.m. — 2300 block of Roselawn Street. Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. The complainant called police to report a man selling marijuana and pills near his house. During the investigation, deputies conducted a “knock and talk,” and the man gave them permission to look around. The man said, “You guys can search all day long and you won’t find anything.” The deputies did, however, find something. During the search, one deputy found 24.6 grams of marijuana and two small scales, plus an assortment of prescription drugs, including opiates, which had been prescribed to the man by his physician. The marijuana was inside a plastic container hidden above the door frame of a closet. The deputies seized the drugs and asked the forensics team to process the container for fingerprints.

Takeout theft
7:40 p.m. — 8200 block of South Tamiami Trail. Theft. The manager of a restaurant approached a deputy leaving Sarasota Square Mall to report that about 10 minutes earlier, a man and woman had walked out of the restaurant without paying their bill. He said the couple had asked the server for takeout boxes, and when the server returned, they were gone. The manager added that the woman was pushing a baby carriage. The deputy searched the area but failed to find anyone who fit the couple’s description. The bill the couple failed to pay totaled $78.06.