Cops Corner: East County

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

Feb. 24
Strange encounter
6:28 p.m. — 8300 block of Town Center Parkway. Suspicious incidents. The complainant went into the store with her 5-year-old daughter. The cashier reportedly followed her out of the store and handed her a flyer. She advised the suspect then said she had a salamander and some eggs on her back. She then asked him to knock them off. According to the complainant, the suspect then told her he has had them on him before and she needed to go into the woods with him to get them off. She advised she didn’t understand why he wanted her to go to the woods and explained to him to just get it off of her. She advised the suspect then brushed his hand across her back and said it was off. She looked on the ground and nothing was there. The complainant immediately got her daughter and left the area. She then called her husband, who, in turn, called the Sheriff’s Office. The responding deputy spoke with the suspect, who seemed extremely nervous. He approached the deputy as soon as he pulled in and said he was so nervous he couldn’t eat his lunch. The suspect then explained what happened. During his entire explanation, he never mentioned asking the complainant to go into the woods. At this point in time, no crime has occurred.

Feb. 25
Missing identity
9:40 a.m. — 6220 block of State Road 64 East. Lost property. The complainant reported he lost his wallet. He stated he remembered bringing the wallet into the bathroom and now is unable to locate it. He made contact with store employees, but no one has turned the wallet in yet. The complainant requested a report be taken because he longer has his driver’s license and no form of identification for his flight home. He was issued a case number for the lost property.

Reported Feb. 25
Caught in the act
11:58 a.m. — 5100 block of 58th Terrace East. Suspicious incident. The complainant reported he was working on his computer when he heard the door handle jiggle. He got up and went over to the door and looked through the peephole, but he didn’t see anything. He then went over to a window and opened the blinds. He observed two younger males standing there. When the two males saw the complainant looking through the window, they ran between the house and his neighbor’s vehicle. The complainant attempted to call 911 but stated it didn’t work because he has a Canadian phone. He was advised by the HOA that he should report the incident.

Feb. 27
A man's best friend?
8 a.m. — 35500 block of State Road 70 E. Animal bites. When the responding deputy arrived at the kennel, the victim already had been transported by EMS to Lakewood Ranch Medical Center. The deputy got the dog’s owner information from the kennel owner. She stated the dog had been dropped off about a month ago. She has tried to contact the dog’s owner, but he hasn’t returned her calls. She said the victim doesn’t work for her but knows the dog and just hangs around there. The deputy went to the hospital and talked to victim, while the staff was working on his right hand. He stated he works for a nearby kennel and that he had been in a cage with a dog called Firi. The victim was raking out some hair from the dog’s face when it bit him on his right hand, causing a large rip in the skin. Dispatch contacted Animal Control, but it hadn’t arrived by the time the deputy left the hospital. The victim was given a victim’s packet with a case number.

Feb. 28
Returned without receipt
10:45 a.m. — 6220 block of State Road 64 East. Found property. A Walmart associate found a pipe commonly used for smoking crack cocaine inside the packaging of a returned item. An unknown white female returned the item. The responding deputy took possession of the pipe and placed it in property and evidence to be destroyed.