Cops Corner: Sarasota

Oct. 6
STORAGE WARS
5 a.m. — 200 block of N. Washington Boulevard. Unclassified. Officers responded to a call for subjects walking around a storage area. There has been a problem with theft in the area. Officers kept an eye out for the subjects.

Oct. 7
FRIEND IN NEED
7:40 a.m. — 600 block N. Washington Ave. Battery. A man received a ride from a woman he knows. After picking him up, the woman drove to a gas station. The woman told police that the man cranked the stereo up, and when the woman reached over to try to turn it down, he punched or slapped her in the face. The woman did not appear to have any injuries. The woman told the officer that she has a severe drug problem. The officer found a .32-caliber silver semi-automatic pistol in the car after the woman asked the officer to try to find her phone.

GONE FISHING
12:45 p.m. — 1700 block of 25th Street. Burglary of a Vehicle. A construction worker discovered that $280 in cash was stolen from his wallet, which was under the driver’s seat of his car, along with two fishing rods, while he was parked at a construction job site.

A FEW TOO MANY
11:51 a.m. — 1000 block of Boulevard of the Arts. Disturbance. Officers were called to a hotel bar where an intoxicated patron was causing a disturbance. The bartender told the officers the man had consumed a lot of alcohol. The officers walked the man back to this hotel room and waited to make sure he did not come back down to the bar.

Oct. 8
CRUISE CONTROL
4:44 p.m. — 1400 block of 25th Street. Noise Violation. A resident called police about vehicles driving up and down the street playing loud music. The resident told police that vehicles playing loud music in the neighborhood is an ongoing problem. An officer searched the area but did not find any cars matching the description.

Oct. 9
FASHION FAUX PAS
4 p.m. — 1400 block of Main Street. Petit Theft. A storeowner told an officer that a woman in her mid-20s, with blond hair and wearing a gold dress, entered her store. The owner watched the woman exit the store with merchandise in her purse. The storeowner then confronted the woman outside the store on the sidewalk. The woman removed a wallet from her purse and returned it to the storeowner and then took off heading east on Main Street.

ROCK OUT
2:01 p.m. — 1000 block of Signal Pointe Circle. General Suspicion. A homeowner called to report an attempted burglary at his apartment. After returning from taking the garbage out, he found one of the panels to his sliding glass doors shattered. Upon checking the door, an officer determined that a lawn-maintenance crew likely hit a rock while mowing, which hit the door and caused it to shatter.

Oct. 10
ANIMAL INSTINCT
11 p.m. — 1900 block of High Point Drive. Burglary of a Structure. Sometime during the night, someone entered an unlocked garage and stole $42 in cash and a driver’s license from a purse inside an unlocked car. An officer tried to obtain fingerprints from the vehicle but was unsuccessful. A neighbor heard rustling when he walked his dog at 3:30 a.m., but he told the officer he thought it was animals rummaging.

GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS
10:10 p.m. — 1000 block of Indian Beach Drive. Suspicion General. An officer responded to a report of a disturbance. When the officer arrived, the home appeared unkempt and a man and woman were scrambling to put on their clothes. The man told the officer he had arranged to meet the woman so he could pay her for sexual activity, and they had had a small dispute. The woman acknowledged that the man offered to pay her electric bill in exchange for sexual favors. The woman was outraged to discover that prostitution was still a crime, even on private property.

ROUGH NIGHT
8 p.m. — 800 block S. Tamiami Trail. General Suspicion. A woman left a motel to cross the street when another woman ran over her toe with a bicycle. The woman on the bicycle yelled “F--- you!” and rode off. The woman who had her toe run over also called hotel staff “15 times” about petty matters throughout the night.

Oct. 11
SLEEPING NOT ALLOWED
12:30 a.m. — Marina Plaza. Suspicion General. Someone called police to report a “suspicious male” in a truck. An officer contacted the man, who said he was homeless and had no place to go. The officer said he was not allowed to sleep overnight in the parking lot. The man said he would go to a friend’s house to stay.