Cops Corner: Longboat Key

Feb. 29
make like a tree and leave …
11:51 a.m. — 600 block of Bay Isles Parkway. Suspicious Person. Police were unable to locate a nondescript subject reportedly standing by a tree waving his hands.

Signing off
1:32 p.m. — 1900 block of GMD. Larceny. A commission candidate reported that three signs placed on the Key plus two signs placed just south of the Key had been illegally removed. The candidate didn’t have a suspect but said that he believes the removal was politically motivated.

On the run
9:09 a.m. — 3300 block of Bayou Sound. Public Service. A man called police because he was worried about a woman who jogs in the roadway in the mornings and could get hit. Police told the man they would attempt to have night-shift officers speak to the woman.

March 2
Delayed response
9:57 p.m. — 500 block of Broadway. Suspicious Circumstance. A woman told police that she was showering when she heard several loud noises outside her window that sounded as if someone were trying to open the breaker panel. She also saw a shadow of someone outside the window but was unable to provide a description. The woman waited three hours after the incident before calling police, who were then unable to find anything out of the ordinary.

March 3
Source of the sound
9:47 p.m. — 500 block of Spinnaker Lane. Disturbance. Police found that the pool pump was the source of a loud noise coming from a vacant home.

The sound of music
10:19 p.m. — 5800 block of GMD. Disturbance. Police told a DJ at a wedding reception to turn off loud music that was a violation of the town’s noise ordinance. Police had gotten an earlier complaint about the music and told the DJ and event planner that any further complaints after 10 p.m. would result in the entertainment being shut down.

March 5
No shortcuts
11:38 p.m. — Intersection of GMD and Spinnaker Lane. Suspicious Person. A caller said that a 6-foot white man wearing plaid shorts was ducking in and out of bushes while cars passed him. Police found the man, who said that he was walking home from Sarasota after getting into an argument with his father at a dog track. The man said that he had a few drinks and possibly cut through a few yards to get home.

Cracking the case
12:57 p.m. — 5300 block of GMD. Civil Disturbance. A storeowner argued with a woman who came into the store, looked at a bowl and accidentally knocked it down, causing it to crack. Police told the owner that if the bowl were broken accidentally, her only recourse would be to pursue the case in small claims court, which would cost more than the $15 bowl price.

March 6
In shell shock
9:17 a.m. — 500 block of Lyons Lane. Disturbance. A man told a driver that he ought to “kick his (expletive)” after the driver accidentally backed into his yard while trying to do a U-turn. The man said that he yelled at the driver, who may have damaged the plastic landscape trim that retains the shell in his front yard. But he had since calmed down and wanted nothing done.

ALL BARK
3:17 p.m. — Linley Street. Public Service. A man said he believed that an unknown person dumped a load of wood at a dock. Police found that the wood pilings were dumped in the water, lashed to a boat and transported to Jewfish Key and that no debris was left in the dock area.

Outstanding warrant
4:25 p.m. — 1600 block of GMD. Warrants. Police found that the driver of a broken-down green Jaguar had an outstanding arrest warrant and found a small bag of marijuana in the car’s passenger seat. The man was taken to Sarasota County jail.

Short fuse
7:25 p.m. — 3300 block of Bayou Road. Fire. Firefighters told police that an electrical outlet inside a landscaping box had shorted and caught fire. Firefighters turned off a fuse box located in a guest bedroom.

March 8
True blood?
8:09 a.m. — 3200 block of Bayou Sound. Suspicious Circumstance. A man reported finding blood droppings on the rear porch of his home. Police were unable to find signs of forced entry or attempted burglary and couldn’t determine who or what left what appeared to be dried blood.

Runaway dog
8:36 a.m. — 5400 block of GMD. Animal Found. A woman brought a brown-and-white cocker spaniel wearing a red collar embroidered with the name “Paddy” on it to the police station after almost hitting the dog while driving. Police held the dog until the owner arrived.

Snake scare
10:06 a.m. — 3200 block of GMD. Animal Nuisance. A man told police that a lawn crew at a condominium heard a 4-foot snake making a rattle sound before going under a transformer. Police couldn’t access the area under the transformer but found a piece of snake skin next to it and told the man to call an exterminator and email residents to advise them to be careful.