Cops Corner: Sarasota

Jan. 19
That’s pretty low
10:17 a.m. — 1400 block of Main Street. Suspicious Person. A woman told police a man entered her store, hunched over, and told her he was “low walking” so the police officers outside couldn’t see him. Before he left the store, he also asked her for money for a bus trip. Officers couldn’t locate the man.

Jan. 20
Just a look over the shoulder
11:15 a.m. — 1300 block of First Street. Suspicious Circumstance. A woman told police that while she was visiting Sarasota, $300 was removed from her checking account. She believes someone might have watched her while she was using a computer at the library.

‘Someone’s been sleeping on my boat’
Noon — 10 block of Marina Plaza. Trespassing. Police told a man they found an elderly man sleeping on his boat the previous night.

Parking problem
8:01 p.m. — 1900 block of Main Street. Dispute. A woman told police she felt a parking garage attendant had mocked her after she refused to pay a $3 parking fee, because she never had parked in the garage. The attendant told police he was following proper procedure, but he had allowed her to leave after writing down her tag number.

Grape(fruit) escape
10:10 a.m. — 800 block of Indian Beach Drive. Suspicious Circumstance. A man told police someone had unscrewed his security night-lights around his home and that all of the grapefruit had been taken from his tree.

Jan. 21
Not the cuffs!
1:07 a.m. — 1900 block of Main Street. Injury. A security guard told police a drunken man had attempted to fight with him after the guard had asked the man to move along. The man fled when the guard tried to put handcuffs on him.

No camping allowed
12:46 p.m. — 800 block of South Tamiami Trail. Suspicious Person. A motel employee told police two people were sleeping in a grassy area at the rear of the motel. Officers sent the pair on their way.

The smoking gun
4:33 p.m. — 800 block of University Parkway. Civil Dispute. A hotel employee became engaged in a dispute with a woman over a charge on her bill involving smoking in the room. The woman denied having smoked in her room, but employees produced photos of cigarette packs and ashes scattered throughout the room. She left after the evidence was produced.

Jan. 22
A different kind of help
8:20 p.m. — 400 block of North Washington Boulevard. Suspicious Circumstance. A man refused to leave church property after he was told to move along. The man told police he was on a binge and needed help. The officers took him to the hospital.

Not that loud
8:59 p.m. — 2500 block of Cocoanut Avenue. Suspicious Noise. Police officers responded to a noise complaint three times but reported they never heard any loud music. A birthday party was under way at a nearby park, but the officers determined the noise from the event did not exceed the maximum level allowed by city code.

Mad love
9:47 p.m. — 200 block of John Ringling Boulevard. Dispute. A woman told police that her son became angry while she and he were talking about his girlfriend. The son got out of her car, where they were sitting, jumped on the hood and kicked in her windshield before leaving. He was located and arrested.

Jan. 23
Bad breakup
2:58 p.m. — 1400 block of Central Avenue. Suspicious Circumstance. A man told police his CD player was missing. He added that he had asked his friend, who had been staying with him, to move out. Police advised the friend, who denied stealing the CD player, to stay away.

Sorry, wrong door
9:02 p.m. — 1700 block of Ringling Boulevard. Suspicious Circumstance. A woman told police an older man kept banging on her door and yelling. A front-desk security clerk in the building told police the man had mistaken her door for the door of another person with whom he was involved in a dispute.

Jan. 24
Breathing room
12:17 a.m. — 1700 block of Ninth Street. Family Dispute. A man told police his roommate wouldn’t get off their couch and kept cursing at him. They agreed to stay away from each other for the rest of the night.

Rumors only
8:36 a.m. — 1000 block of Cocoanut Avenue. Suspicious Circumstance. An apartment manager told police she had received complaints that one of her tenants was selling drugs in a unit of the building.

A bad rap
8:55 a.m. — 200 block of South Orange Avenue. Suspicious Circumstance. Police transported to City Hall letters that had been written by a woman known for sending strange letters to city departments. The employee who accepted the letters said they weren’t threatening after all.

Just grabbing a bite to eat
1:07 p.m. — 1000 block of North Tamiami Trail. Shoplifting. A grocery store manager told police a woman caught stealing a soda and a sandwich was inside a break room, throwing the items around. The woman told police she had been stealing from the store over the past five years, whenever she became hungry. She was arrested and trespassed from the property.