Cops Corner: East County

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

Nov. 2
Tech glitch
9:39 a.m. — 2900 block of 53rd Ave E. Shoplifting. A suspect tried to pry open a Plexiglas case to steal a laptop from a store. During the attempt, the suspect broke the case and the screen of the laptop, which was secured by an anti-theft lock. The suspect then ran off with a desktop computer and exited the store without paying.

Nov. 4
Pre-election frenzy
10:46 p.m. — 4700 block of Palm Aire Circle. Larceny Petit First Offense. A woman reported that someone stole her Romney/Ryan poster from her front yard. The woman said that all of the Romney/Ryan posters in her neighborhood had disappeared within the prior 32 hours.

Nov. 6
Not-so-special delivery
10:56 a.m. — 4500 block of Fourth Ave N.E. Grand Theft. An employee for a transportation company reported that the company bought a truck at an auction. The transportation company hired another company to drive the truck to the business, but when it arrived, the employee noticed the Tonneau cover was missing from the back of the truck.

Feeding the munchies
6:38 p.m. — 5800 block of Ranch Lake Blvd. Larceny Petit First Offense. Over an eight-day period, a cashier was observed stealing $250 from the cash register during four incidents. The cashier admitted to loss-prevention personnel that she stole the money, along with some snacks. During the law-enforcement investigation, deputies found that the woman also had marijuana in her posession.

Nov. 7
Woodn’t you know it?
1:48 p.m. — 7110 block of Grand Estuary Trail. Grand Theft. Someone removed 45 sheets of plywood without permission from a construction site. The plywood’s value is estimated at $675. The address was clearly listed as under construction.

Failed hooky
7:25 a.m. — 5100 block of 60th Drive E. Information Only. A man called 911 reporting that an unknown person was inside an abandoned home next-door to his. The caller said the home was bank-owned and in foreclosure. Responding units found a juvenile girl inside the abandoned home. Deputies confirmed the girl had been suspended from her high school, effective Nov. 5 through Nov. 26. The girl had not told her guardians of the suspension and was looking for a place to stay. The home was secured, and no damage was noted to the home. Deputies took the girl back to her home, a block away, and informed her guardians of the suspension.

Road rage
12:18 a.m. — 5600 block of Lakewood Ranch Blvd. Information Only. A woman was driving northbound on Lakewood Ranch Boulevard in the far-right lane, which merged into the middle lane. A man driving a blue Toyota pickup truck swerved in the woman’s direction, trying to force her out of the way, and made an obscene hand gesture and cursed at her. As the man drove ahead, the woman sped up to him and made the same hand gesture. As she tried to pass him on the right, the man again swerved in her direction, forcing her to take evasive action to avoid being struck. The woman followed the man into a grocery-store parking lot and dialed 911. The man exited his truck and told the woman he knows where she lives. Both parties exited the scene before deputies arrived. Deputies responded to the man’s address, but no one answered the door.