Cops Corner: Sarasota

May 19
MISSING MOTOR
9:53 a.m. — 10 block of Bayfront Drive. Vehicle Burglary. A man reported that someone stole the motor off his motorboat while the boat was moored along the bayfront.

May 20
GONE WITH THE WIND
3 a.m. — Intersection of Pineapple Avenue and Central Avenue. Suspicious Circumstance. In the middle of the night, police noticed that a tent, erected for a weekend event, had a bulge in it and discovered shelves had been knocked over inside. Police believe a strong wind could have knocked the shelves over.

MOMMY DEAREST
3:30 p.m. — 1800 block of South Tamiami Trail. Fight. Police broke up a physical fight between a mother and a daughter who were arguing over the daughter’s right to date a suspected drug addict. Police advised the mother her daughter was an adult and free to make her own decisions. Police advised the mother to consider kicking the daughter out of her house if she disagrees with her decisions.

MEAT AND EAT
7 p.m. — 1400 block of First Street. Trespassing. A grocery store employee reported that a man ate two pieces of meat from the store’s hot food bar without paying for them. Police issued him a trespass warning.

May 21
RESUMÉ BUILDERS
10:58 a.m. — 10 block of Bayfront Drive. Suspicious Person. A city employee reported that two men wearing blue shorts and no shirts were approaching park patrons aggressively and asking them for work. Police asked the men to stop. One man agreed, and the other man was confrontational and told the officer he would go ask for work somewhere else.

FREE RIDE
11 a.m. — 100 block of Lemon Avenue. Theft. A man told police he believes someone stole his wallet while he was riding the bus.

IDENTITY CRISIS
4:17 p.m. — 1500 block of Ringling Boulevard. Suspicious Person. A bank manager reported that a woman ran out of the bank after staff questioned her motives about cashing a check that had a different last name than the one listed on her driver’s license.

CREDITS CONTINUE TO ROLL
5 p.m. — 1900 block of Main Street. Theft. A woman told police that she lost her wallet at the movies recently and someone has now been using her Social Security card to open new accounts under her name.

EXPENSIVE EMPLOYEE
6:39 p.m. — 2200 block of Main Street. Theft. A woman reported that a store employee, who had been terminated, stole $351 in petty cash from the business and forged two checks from the business account totaling more than $6,000.

May 22
PRODUCTIVE PURSE
9:10 a.m. — 3800 block of South Tamiami Trail. Shoplifting. A drug store manager reported that he had detained a woman who was caught shoplifting inside the store. He was holding her purse, which contained the stolen items, when she decided to run away. Police used her driver’s license, from in the purse, to locate her and arrest her.

Patrol presence
10:35 a.m. — 1000 block of Central Avenue. Patrol Request. A business owner requested extra patrol because he had noticed more homeless people hanging around his property.

LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
11:46 a.m. — 2800 block of Eighth Street. Battery. A second-grade teacher reported that one of her students kicked her hard in the leg after she and her assistant teacher escorted the student to the principal’s office for misbehaving in class. The teacher intended to press charges because of repeated behavioral problems she feels can best be corrected in a different type of school atmosphere.

Parking pest
12:47 p.m. — 300 block of South Palm Avenue. Suspicious Vehicle. A condominium receptionist reported that a white Ford pickup truck had been parked on Gulfstream Avenue for a long period of time. Police discovered the truck belonged to a nearby condominium owner and made attempts to contact him.

Vanishing Contents
4:30 p.m. — 1900 block of Main Street. Theft. A restaurant manager reported that someone rifled through the purses of his waitresses during their shift. One waitress was missing $40, and another reported the theft of two prescriptions valued at $250.

May 23
Purse held hostage
2:56 a.m. — 800 block of South Tamiami Trail. Suspicious Person. A woman complained that a man she spent the night with would not answer the door so she could retrieve her purse inside his hotel room. Police advised there was nothing anyone could do because she was not a hotel guest who had permission to access that room.