Cops Corner: East County

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

Feb. 2
Identity crisis
11:54 p.m. — 7100 block of State Road 70 E. Information Only. A deputy was eating dinner at a restaurant when he noticed a bartender run out the front door after a woman and her boyfriend. Peering through the restaurant window, the deputy believed the conversation was becoming heated. The deputy rushed outside and noticed the woman was intoxicated and wanted to drive home. The deputy warned her not to drive. Restaurant employees offered to get her a cab, but she refused, saying her boyfriend could drive her home.
About 10 minutes later, after the deputy went back inside, he saw the woman get into the driver’s side of a vehicle. The deputy again rushed outside and warned the woman not to drive. She said she wouldn’t drive; she just wanted to put the keys in the ignition. The deputy said doing so was enough to arrest her for DUI.
The woman warned the deputy, “I am a volunteer deputy sheriff at Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and you cannot arrest me.” The deputy said that didn’t matter. The woman showed the deputy an expired ID with the words “sheriff’s office” printed on it. The woman admitted she had no affiliation with the sheriff’s office. The deputy confiscated the fake ID, and the woman let her boyfriend drive her home. She cried as they drove away.

Feb. 4
Just a scratch
5 p.m. — 6200 block of State Road 64 E. Criminal Mischief. A man reported his vehicle had been damaged while parked at a department store. The damage included a scratch on the right side window. There are no known suspects.

Gone fishing
6:30 p.m. — 5500 block of Pope Road. Trespass Warning. On a routine patrol, a deputy spotted four people fishing inside a fenced area. Two of the people said they had spoken to the “super” of the housing complex to ask if they could go fishing there. The deputy said the property didn’t belong to the housing complex, so the group was trespassing. The deputy told the group they would be arrested if they trespassed again. They agreed to leave.

Feb. 5
Hide and seek
3:13 p.m. —13600 block of Second Avenue E. Burglary. Two juveniles were arrested for attempting to burglarize two vehicles in the Mill Creek neighborhood. A deputy saw the two juveniles, a 16-year-old and 17-year-old, attempting to hide in front of a white truck. As the deputy approached the juveniles, they began walking away at a quick pace. The deputy arrested both of them for burglary.

Feb. 6
Who are you?
5:38 p.m.—5400 block of University Parkway. Suspicious incidents. A man entered a specialty store and purchased two $200 Visa gift cards using a MasterCard with his name on it. When the man opened his wallet, the clerk saw a bunch of different credit cards and became suspicious. The man came back to the store later and tried to buy more items, but one of his credit cards was declined. The man fled the scene in a vehicle, leaving a Visa credit card and his driver’s license. A deputy searched the area for the man without success.

Mama’s boy
11:36 p.m.—3900 block of 78th Place E. Fraud. A man took his mother’s credit card from her purse without permission. He took the card to a convenience store and bought $19.18 in merchandise, then visited a fast food restaurant and bought $18.10 worth of food. When the man returned home, his mother confronted him and they got into a verbal argument. The mother told a deputy that she never gave permission for her son to use the credit card. He admitted to the deputy that he used the card without permission and was promptly arrested.

View East Co. Cops Report 02.14.13 in a larger map