COPS CORNER: Sarasota

Aug. 6
KNEE-JERK REACTION
4:30 p.m. — 200 block of Canal Road. Battery. A man came into a store and was eventually asked to leave. The store’s owners said the man was a former employee, and that the man had made threats after being fired, although they hadn’t heard from him in weeks. One of the owners walked to the door, opened it and told the man to get out. The man claimed he was shoved through the door, and that he hit his knee against the door and was injured. The owner and a witness claimed the man was not touched. When told there was no evidence of battery, the man said he would go to the hospital for his knee if he had to.

THROWING STONES
7:15 p.m. — 5300 block of Ocean Boulevard. Criminal Mischief. A person in a condominium complex reported hearing an “explosion,” and another person saw a man jumping a gate in the complex. Rocks were found in the pool, and two windows were broken. Rocks were found on the balconies where the windows were broken, as well. The person reporting the incident said the suspect either had a really strong arm or was possibly shooting rocks out of a water gun.

Aug. 9
GAS ’N’ GO
3:53 p.m. — 3400 block of South Osprey Ave. Petit Theft. A man walked up to the register at a gas station and asked for gas on his pump. He left a credit card next to the register and pumped $35.75 of gas into his car before leaving. After 20 minutes, the manager ran the credit card to see if the customer had been there before, and the card was denied. The manager used an Internet search engine to search the name on the card, and a picture of the man came up.

Aug. 10
QUIET TIME
2:47 a.m. ­­— 1400 block of Main Street. Dispute/Fight. Law-enforcement personnel told a group of about 20 people involved in a verbal confrontation on Main Street to break it up. Several of the people began loudly arguing in front of the Selby Library a little while later. Two people said the confrontation started when one group of people started taunting another group for unknown reasons.

Aug. 11
NAKED TRUTH
2:30 p.m. — 1700 block of Ken Thompson Parkway. Suspicion Person. Police received a complaint about a suspicion of naked toddlers running around a park. When he arrived, an officer observed two boys, about 18 months old, not wearing clothes. The mother of the boys said she didn’t think anything was wrong with the situation. The mother’s mother said she would talk her daughter into putting clothes on her children.

HOT NEWS
7:43 a.m. — 600 block of Rhodes Avenue. Petit Theft. A woman said four juveniles gathered newspapers from throughout the neighborhood and set them on fire in front of her house. The suspects fled when officers arrived. Police discovered the juveniles had also burned mail belonging to several neighbors.

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