Cops Corner: Sarasota

Oct. 27
ASHES TO ASHES
11 a.m. — 2400 block of Arlington Street. Burglary. During the night, someone broke into a an unlocked car. When the owner entered the car in the morning, he noticed an ashtray was missing. The owner also noticed a cell phone had been left in the car. An officer tried to turn the phone on to determine the owner, but the phone didn’t work.

Oct. 28
LOVE TAP
1:27 a.m. — Ringling Boulevard. Family Dispute. Police received a call about a vehicle collision in a parking garage. An officer met with the involved parties in the parking garage; they were a married couple who said they had a dispute while at a club downtown. The wife told the officer she was upset and left to go home. She then drove her vehicle’s front end into the rear panel of her husband’s van that was parked next to her car. There were no injuries, and the wife was not under the influence of alcohol when operating the vehicle. The husband did not want to press charges.

Oct. 30
ON THE LOOKOUT
6 p.m. — 300 block S. Pineapple Avenue. Patrol Request. A condo complex reported a problem to police about a woman sleeping in the south entrance and making a mess in the area. A condo representative requested extra patrol in the area for the next two weeks to solve the problem.

TV JUNKIE
7 p.m. — 1100 block Four Seasons Circle. Burglary of a Structure. A hotel manager told officers that sometime in the evening, someone stole the 47-inch plasma television from the common area. It appeared that someone pried the front door open with a tire iron or tire jack. The hotel did not have a security system, but one was being installed the day the officer arrived.

TEMPER TANTRUM
12:30 a.m. — 3000 block of Ringling Blvd. Battery. An officer responded to the location of an alleged battery. The caller told the officer that he met with another man about some work he did, and the man became irate, punched the caller in the face and then took his sunglasses and stomped on them. The officer, however, found that the man who called police did not have any visible injuries or swelling. Nor were his sunglasses damaged in any way. There was no probable cause to file charges.

Oct. 31
HEAVY SLEEPER
3:12 a.m. — 1900 Hyde Park Street. Unclassified. A man passed out in a white Dodge pickup truck while it was running, with music blasting from the truck.

FAMILY REUNION
6:15 p.m. – 300 block of St. Armands Circle. Attempt to Contact. A child was separated from her mother shortly on Halloween night, but the two were reunited.

GET YOUR STORIES STRAIGHT
10:15 a.m. — 2500 block of 10th Street. Fight. Officers arrived at the scene of a fight. When they arrived, one man was on the floor and couldn’t get up. He told officers that in the process of moving, he became engaged in a dispute with his roommate and his roommate pushed him onto the floor — unprovoked. The roommate had another version of events. He told police officers that the roommate on the floor had stood in the doorway and screamed at him and would not let him leave, so he pushed the roommate, causing him to fall.

Nov. 1
CHEAP SCRAP
12 a.m. — 2800 block of Eighth Street. Burglary of a Structure. Someone broke into an FPL substation area and stole some steel and copper on the ground, which were scrap left over from a recent revision project. The person may have entered from a cut section in the fence.

HEY, BIG SPENDER
2:30 p.m. — 1400 block of Main Street. Petit Theft. A security guard at the bar called police about a man who had racked up a $109.25 bar tab and was unable to pay it. The patron gave his credit card, which was declined several times. The security guard told police the bar wanted to press charges if the man was unable to pay the bill. The officer gave the man several chances to pay the bill, but he finally admitted he did not have the money to pay for it. The officer placed the man under arrest and transported him to jail.