COPS CORNER: East County

July 19
DOG ATTACK
7000 block of 4 Seasons Circle. Dog Bite. Deputies responded to a report of a dog bite. A man was walking his leashed dog — a pug — when he saw another man walking a dog — a pit bull — without a leash. The man with the pit bull then leashed his dog. The two men and their dogs walked by each other. After they passed, the pit bull attacked the pug, causing at least three puncture wounds to the pug. Trying to break the dogs apart, the owner of the pug was bitten on the right palm of his hand, causing him to bleed.

At first, deputies deemed the wounds to be minor. The pug’s owner only wished to have his medical and vet bills paid. The pit bull owner agreed to do so. The pit bull was ordered to be quarantined inside the owner’s home. Three days later, the pug’s owner called the Sheriff’s Office to say the injuries he and his dog had suffered were worse than expected. He said his pug needed a drain tube for the puncture wounds. The owner said he had suffered possible nerve damage to his hand. Deputies said they would follow up with issuing potential citations to the pit bull’s owner.

July 30
Drama queen
3:45 a.m. — 6700 block of State Road 64 E. Obstruction of Justice. A deputy saw a tan SUV pulling out of a fast-food restaurant parking lot. The SUV’s lights were off. The deputy found this fact suspicious, because there had been a robbery around the same time and location. The deputy stopped the SUV. The SUV’s driver jumped out of the door and yelled, “Why are you guys following me all day?”

The deputy ordered the driver, a woman, back into her vehicle. She eventually got back in the car, but she refused to roll her windows down. The deputy opened the driver’s-side door himself. The driver would not hand over her license and registration. Instead, she carried on a cell phone conversation. The deputy told the driver’s son, sitting in the back seat, to get his mother off the phone. The son ignored the deputy.

The deputy grabbed the driver by her left arm and assisted her out of the vehicle. She dropped to the ground and asked, “Why are you doing this? Forgive me.” The driver’s son then exited the vehicle and walked toward the deputy. The deputy felt unsafe and pulled his Taser. He arrested the driver. Inside the patrol car, the woman pleaded for forgiveness. Her son was taken back home.

Crime spree
4:14 a.m. — 6200 block of State Road 64 E. Drug Possession. A deputy responded to a report of a theft from a gas station. The deputy ran the offender through a search. The deputy determined the offender had a warrant out in Manatee County. The deputy arrested the offender. When the deputy searched the offender, he found drug paraphernalia and a controlled substance. The person was transported to jail.

Hook-up
7:48 a.m. — 7000 block of River Hammock Drive. Vehicle Theft. Unknown subjects stole a cargo trailer from a construction site by hooking it up to a vehicle and driving away.

Inside job
10:11 a.m. — 8000 block of Rio Bella Place. Theft. Unknown person(s) took items from a person’s wallet. The wallet was inside a home. A construction crew was working outside the home at the time of the theft.

Stolen service
11:05 a.m. — 6000 block of Braden Run. Fraud. A man reported an unknown person(s) used his identification to open up a cell phone account. This was done without the man’s permission.

Under construction
12:22 a.m. — 12700 block of Del Corso Loop. Other. Unknown subjects broke off two backflow valves from a construction site inside a subdivision. They fled by unknown means. 

July 31
Money swipe
6:34 p.m. — 8400 block of Lockwood Ridge Road. Suspicious Incidents. An unknown person placed a card reader on an ATM machine outside of a bank. It is unknown if any personal information was taken from the card reader. The bank security was notified, and personnel took the ATM out of use. Deputies removed items from inside the ATM machine for further examination.

View East County Cops Report 8.07.13 in a larger map