Cops Corner: East County

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

Aug. 13
Point made
8:11 a.m. — 6500 block of State Road 64 East. Armed Robbery. The defendant entered a restaurant and approached the employee at the register. The defendant pointed a kitchen knife toward the employee and demanded money. The employee ran to the back of the store. The defendant left without money, and was located and arrested a short distance from the store.

Gone boat gone
11:33 a.m. — 1000 block of 169th Street East. Grand Theft. The complainant stated unknown person(s) stole his boat sometime between 8 a.m. and the time of the report Aug. 13. The boat was valued at $400.

Aug. 14
Stolen property
12:51 p.m. — 3400 block of 55th Drive E. Petit Theft Vehicle. The reporting party stated her mother had died July 25. When she took possession of her mother’s vehicle, the license plate decals, valid through Sept. 15, 2013, had been stolen at an undetermined date.

Sucker punch
2:35 p.m. — 300 block of 60th Avenue East. Criminal Mischief. The complainant was in his living room when he heard someone in his backyard. He walked out of his house into his yard and saw a Hispanic male. The male was spooked and punched the window, causing the windowpane to fall out. The suspect fled on foot, through the yard. He was not located.

Unwelcome bite
2:58 p.m. — 7600 block of Lockwood Ridge Road. Animal Bites. The victim was bitten on his lower right leg at the above location. The victim went to a walk-in clinic and received treatment. Animal removed the dog.

Aug. 15
Unlucky break
7:28 a.m. — 10500 block of Cheval Place. Burglary to Unoccupied Conveyance, Unarmed. Unknown person(s) entered the victim’s locked Toyota Tacoma, which was parked in the driveway, by breaking out the rear sliding window and crawling through the opening. Once inside, the suspect(s) stole items and fled.

Lock it or lose it
8:54 a.m. — 13500 block of Third Avenue Northeast. Burglary to a Conveyance — is or Becomes Armed. Unknown person(s) entered the unlocked vehicle through an unknown door. Once inside, suspect(s) stole items and fled. The Toyota Tacoma pickup truck was parked in the driveway of the residence at the time of the incident.

Hide and seek
3:01 p.m. — 5900 block of Lakewood Ranch Blvd. Information. The complainant had been arrested Aug. 14 and issued a no-contact order with the other party, her ex-boyfriend. The complainant was at work in a deli when she saw her ex-boyfriend enter. She went to the back room of the store and called her mother, who, in turn, called the sheriff’s office. The ex-boyfriend left before deputies arrived. The complainant was not arrested because she was at her place of business and took action to avoid the ex-boyfriend. The deputy found that the complainant had filed for an injunction against her ex-boyfriend, but it had not yet been served to him. No contact occurred between the parties, but the report was taken for information.

Aug. 16
Steal and run
2:10 p.m. — 13500 block of Second Avenue Northeast. Burglary to Convey — Larceny. Unknown suspect(s) entered the unlocked vehicle and stole property before fleeing in an unknown direction.

Theft by phishing
3:30 p.m. — 7900 block of Oak Grove Circle. Information. The reporting party does her banking online and realized, after the fact, that her personal information had been fraudulently obtained through the computer. She thought she was on her bank’s website and therefore had filled in her name, date of birth, Social Security number and bank account number at the site’s prompting. She later contacted her bank and its representatives advised her of suspicious attempts to withdraw from her account that had been prevented. The complainant has not had a financial loss or any identity theft-related issues as a result of the incident with the website. She requested a report be written in case her identity is fraudulently used in the future as a result of this incident. The bank had no available documents to show the failed attempts to her account, and the complainant has no information about the fraudulent website.

Left behind
9:04 p.m. — 6200 block of State Road 64 East. Lost Property. The complainant stated she left property in the parking lot of the location, and it is now gone.

Picnic mystery
10:22 p.m. — 6600 block of Summer Blossom Lane. Suspicious Incident. The complainant’s vehicle had been parked in the driveway since Aug. 10. The complainant went to the vehicle the night of Aug. 16 and found food and that the glove box door and center console were open. The complainant was unsure if the vehicle was locked or the alarm was set and said he always uses the keychain remote. Nothing appeared to be missing from the vehicle.