Cops Corner: East County

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

Jan. 13
Asleep at the wheel
11:49 p.m. — 1400 block of Upper Manatee River Road. DUI. The deputy responded to a citizen complaint of a driver asleep behind the wheel at a red light. When the deputy arrived on scene, he pulled up behind the vehicle and the driver was still asleep. The light turned green without the driver moving. The deputy chirped his siren, and the vehicle moved through the light. The deputy conducted a traffic stop to check on the driver. Believing the driver was impaired; the deputy requested a traffic unit respond to conduct a DUI investigation. The driver was arrested. Towing responded to tow the vehicle from the scene.

Freebies
2:30 p.m. — 5200 block of University Parkway. Petit theft. The complainant, a loss-prevention supervisor for the business, reported he witnessed an unknown white female commit a theft. He stated she gathered several items, placed them in her purse and walked out of the store without paying for them.

iTheft
3:16 p.m. — 6100 block of 42nd Street Circle East. Theft from building $300 to $5,000. The complainant reported his son had a couple of friends over to the house Dec. 24. He left for work in the morning at about 8 a.m. and saw the iPod sitting on the table. When he returned home from work, his son told him the iPod was missing. He didn’t call the Sheriff’s Office at that time, because he thought it might’ve been misplaced. The complainant has attempted to locate the iPod on multiple occasions with no avail. He was only able to provide the responding deputy with the names of the individuals at this time.

Jan. 15
Cleaner cleaned out
10 a.m. — 5600 block of Manor Hill Lane. Petit theft. The complainant was cleaning a room on the second floor of the hotel and left her purse on her cleaning cart, which was in the hallway next to the room. When she exited the room, she noticed her purse was gone. She stated there was a group of men walking down the hallway that were part of a soccer team, but she didn’t see anyone take the purse. She reported the incident to her manager, who reviewed the security cameras with negative results. The complainant had $50 cash and miscellaneous cards in her purse.

Critter crime
7:41 p.m. — 6225 State Road 64 East. Petit theft. The deputy responded in reference to a shoplifter in custody. Upon his arrival, the deputy met with the complainant who stated what he had observed and filled out an affidavit. The suspect was taken into custody for petit theft. The total value of the stolen cat food was $11.28. The deputy also called animal control, because the suspect had three dogs in her vehicle. Animal Control responded and took custody of the dogs. The suspect was transported to District One for transport.

Triple threat
11 p.m. — 5900 block of Post Boulevard. Grand theft auto. The deputy responded in reference to a theft. Upon his arrival, her met with security that observed individuals driving off with three golf carts. The individuals dismounted them and ran into a heavily wooded area. When deputies arrived, they surrendered and were placed under arrest without incident.

OOPS!
11 p.m. — 2400 block of Logue Road. Criminal mischief. The complainant stated someone left the water faucet to the barn running, causing the well pump to burn out. She didn’t see who left the faucet on. Because of the amount of time from the date of occurrence to the time of report and the homeowner constantly handling the faucet, detectives were unable to obtain prints.