Cops Corner: Sarasota

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

Feb. 12: A happy
Note on sour notes
3:12 p.m. — 800 block of North Tuttle Avenue. Suspicious Person. Police received an anonymous complaint about someone playing bagpipes in a nearby park. Police found the man, who explained he felt the park was the only place he could practice without disturbing people. Police advised that even though they had received a complaint, playing bagpipes in public didn’t violate any known ordinances.

Feb. 16
Someone’s new wheels
3:30 p.m. — 1900 block of Main Street. Theft. A man told police his bike, which he had locked to a tree, was gone when he returned.

Feb. 17
Business bashing
7:19 p.m. — 1400 block of Main Street. Suspicious Person. A merchant told police that a man was harassing people as they walked by his business. Officers located the man and told him to stay away from the business.

Rock on
10:09 p.m. — 10 block of Bayfront Drive. Noise Violation. A Golden Gate Point resident complained of loud music coming from the bayfront. When officers investigated, Marina Jack staff showed them a special sound permit, which gave the restaurant permission to play the amplified live music until 11 p.m.

Feb. 18
Sightseeing
2:21 p.m. — Ringling Bridge. Vehicle Crash. A man driving a rental car ran into the rear of another vehicle, driven by a woman, at the top of the Ringling Bridge. Only minor damage was reported to both vehicles, and neither party sustained any injuries.

Just in case …
7:47 p.m. — 1300 block of South Tamiami Trail. Suspicious Circumstance. A woman told police she saw someone hit a parked car in a grocery store parking lot. Police found no damage to either car. The male driver who had hit the car told police he also couldn’t find any damage to the vehicle. Nonetheless, the responding officer left a card on the parked car.

Feb. 19
Less angry the next day
8:16 a.m. — 1000 block of University Parkway. Family Dispute. A woman told police she was upset that a man and her brother both were rude to her after she went back to the man’s hotel, following a night of drinking. The men told police she had threatened to tell officers she had been raped. However, officers reported that the woman, who was still drunk from the night before, ended up leaving in a cab without pressing charges.

Who’s sleeping in my car?
10:19 p.m. — 1900 block of Main Street. Trespassing. A parking attendant told police he had found a man sleeping in his car in a parking garage and had asked him to leave. When the man refused, police arrived to issue him a trespass warning. The officers sent the man on his way.

Feb. 20
More convenient than a store
10:57 a.m. — 200 block of Golden Gate Point. Theft. A Sanibel Island resident called police to report that while he was visiting friends in Sarasota, someone stole the tires off the bicycle that was attached to his car.

Bonus with the bike
11:30 a.m. — 3800 block of South Tamiami Trail. Theft. A man told police someone had stolen his unlocked bike while he was shopping inside a drug store. The bag attached to the back of his bike contained his cell phone and some cash, he said.

Cat-man strikes
3 p.m. — 1400 block of Main Street. Battery. A teenage girl told police a teenage boy had harassed her at a club and jumped at her when she left. She added that he had slapped her and pulled her hair.

Copper culprits
5:15 p.m. — 1500 block of Seventh Street. Suspicious Circumstance. A man complained that his cable line had been cut for the second time in the past four days. Police officers said they believed that, because such a big segment of the line had been cut from both ends, copper thieves had stolen that part of the wire to turn it in for cash.

Pickin’ problems
5:30 p.m. — 600 block of South Osprey Avenue. Theft. A woman reported that her brother-in-law’s girlfriend and one of the woman’s friends had broken into her brother-in-law’s apartment and stolen several guitar accessories, which they then pawned at a local shop. The girlfriend was on a drug binge, according to the boyfriend. Police warned the man to secure the rest of his valuables.

Targeted tag
6:35 p.m. — 1700 block of South Tamiami Trail. Theft. A woman told police someone had stolen the tag off her vehicle while she was working her shift at a hospital.

Feb. 21
Gone in 15 seconds
11 a.m. — 3500 block of Fruitville Road. Theft. A man told police he accidentally had left his wallet on the counter at a fast-food restaurant while he was waiting for his food. Her returned to the counter within 15 seconds, he said, but it was gone. Too many people were in the fast-food restaurant at the time for him to be able to suggest a suspect.

No longer welcome
11:02 a.m. — 1300 block of First Street. Trespassing. At the request of library staff, officers went inside a public library and escorted a man outside.

Bump and run
7:22 p.m. — 1200 block of First Street. Suspicious Vehicle. A parking attendant told police he saw a green sport utility vehicle back into a black sedan and flee the scene before he could stop the driver.

Police presence pays off
8:10 p.m. — 2400 block of Leon Avenue. Arrest. Police approached two men walking toward an apartment complex in Newtown that has been known for drug deals. They arrested a man after he reached into his waistband and attempted to pull out a gun. While trying to make the arrest, police found another gun the other man had hidden in the bushes. Officers had to run after the man when he attempted to flee the scene. While a second man was being arrested, officers saw a bag fall to the ground. They found it contained seven pieces of rock cocaine. Both men were taken to jail.