Cops Corner: Sarasota

May 31
Entry point
9:35 a.m. — 200 block of Golden Gate Pont. Vehicle Burglary. A man told police someone entered his neighbor’s van while she was out of town and stole the van’s registration and an insurance card. The van was unlocked.

Can’t sleep here
3:02 p.m. — 1500 block of First Street. Suspicious Person. Police found a man sleeping on the sidewalk in front of City Hall and sent him on his way.

Cashing in
3:45 p.m. — 1300 block of Main Street. Suspicious Circumstance. A restaurant owner called police to report he believes some of his business checks were stolen from the checkbook in his restaurant office. A check-cashing store reported someone was cashing his checks. He believes an employee he recently fired stole the checks.

June 1
Have backpack, will travel
12 p.m. — 1500 block of First Street. Theft. A man told police he believes his former boyfriend grabbed his backpack before the boyfriend boarded a bus. The backpack contained his shoes, clothes and his driver’s license and Social Security card.

Dirty South
11:19 p.m. — 800 block of School Avenue. Battery. A man told police that another man approached him without a shirt on, asked him if he thought he looked tough and then struck him in the face before running away while yelling, “Southside!” over and over again.

June 2
That’s not on the house
10:55 a.m. — 1400 block of First Street. Trespassing. A grocery store manager asked police to trespass a woman from the property after she failed to pay for a coffee refill.

June 4
Escape route
6:46 a.m. — 1100 block of Myrtle Street. Suspicious Person. A man told police he saw a man walking in his backyard but the man ran away before he could confront him.

Private parking
12:32 p.m. — 1500 block of Main Street. Dispute. A security officer told police he was involved in a dispute with a man who parked in a privately owned parking lot.

Don’t try to cell me
3:41 p.m. — 4100 block of South Tamiami Trail. Forgery. A man reported that his ex-girlfriend had tapped into his financial affairs after their breakup and used his information to add a cell-phone to his account.

Follow the procedure
7:21 p.m. — 1700 block of Morrill Street. Landlord Tenant Dispute. A rooming house manager told police a man was three months behind on his rent. Police advised the manager she had to file an eviction notice with the Clerk of the Court and couldn’t just change the locks and throw his stuff into the street.

June 5
Bag lady
12:24 a.m. — 3900 block of South Tamiami Trail. Shoplifting. A woman walked into a drug store with an empty shopping bag and tried to leave with several unpaid items that she placed in the bag. The manager confronted her and noted the total worth of what she tried to steal was $27.76. She was arrested and issued a trespass warning.

That’s not cool
12:45 p.m. — 3300 block of Seventh Street. Theft. A maintenance man told police that someone stole an air conditioner unit from the side of a house.

Blue light special
2 p.m. — 1300 block of South Tamiami Trail. Shoplifting. A grocery store manager held a woman in custody and waited for police to arrive after she tried to steal $60 worth of food.

Off her meds
8:15 p.m. — 3900 block of South Tamiami Trail. Trespassing. A woman apologized to police for trespassing on a piece of property and blamed it on her lack of medication.

The wrong message
8:51 p.m. — 1400 block of Main Street. Harassment. A homeless woman told police that she was harassed after she gave her cell-phone number to a homeless man who she thought was nice. He became controlling and started sending her threatening text messages and demanded to know what bench she was at downtown. She told police she needed a ride to the Salvation Army, was fearful for her life and was moving back to Rhode Island in the morning.

Too smart for your own good
11:22 p.m. — 2200 block of Novus Street. Suspicious Circumstance. A man told police that he believes a Craigslist “rants and raves” ad was directed at him and his girlfriend. In the ad, the writer talked about how he wanted to shoot a man and his girlfriend who came up to him at a restaurant and confronted him about the behavior of his children. The man told police that the ad fit the description of him and his girlfriend, and he responded to the ad, asking the man if he was upset with him because of the confrontation. The guy who posted the ad responded and said it couldn’t have been him because he sounded too educated. The man was still fearful that he and his girlfriend were being targeted.