Cops Corner: Longboat Key

Dec. 11
Gate gaffe
9:32 a.m. — 600 block of Longboat Club Road. Public Service. A man said that his community’s gate wasn’t opening for him and that the gate company wasn’t helping with the problem. A company representative told police that the gate was having problems because of power surges but was being repaired.

Free ride
12:31 p.m. — 4000 block of GMD. Traffic. Police checked the license plate number of a vehicle and found that its plates were to be seized if the owner was driving the vehicle and that the vehicle’s owner’s license was suspended for financial reasons. The man received a citation for driving on a suspended license without knowledge.

Dec. 12
Wrong answer
1:08 p.m. — 5800 block of GMD. Soliciting. A man told police he had a state occupational license when police asked him if he had a Longboat Key solicitor license. Police gave him a copy of the ordinance that states that a town license is needed for solicitation.

No need for a crackdown
8:25 p.m. — 500 block of Wedge Lane. Suspicious Circumstance. Police found that the glass on a French door was cracked after a woman reported noise coming from her lanai and second-story window. Police found that the glass likely cracked because of internal strain within the door and not from an object thrown through it.

Beating the odds
12:33 a.m. — 3200 block of GMD. Suspicious Circumstance. An admittedly intoxicated woman who took a cab home from Bradenton Beach told police she spent more than $300 gambling and had been paid out throughout the evening, and the machine stopped working when she was getting ready to win. The woman said that the bartender told her to return the next morning to get the last $30 and got thrown out after she and her friend got upset. Police told her that she and her friend would need to file a report on Bradenton Beach but advised them that they would improve their odds by sobering up first.

Dec. 13
Phishing scam
3:15 p.m. — 5100 block of GMD. Suspicious Circumstance. A person who claimed to work for an electric company left a voice message for a woman and asked her the name and number of her condominium in order to replace the power meter. The woman became suspicious and hung up. Police gave her basic identity theft and phishing scam information.

Dec. 14
Differing perspectives
5:17 p.m. — 300 block of Longboat Club Road. Reckless Driving. A truck driver said that a woman might have seen him swerve hard to the right to avoid an oncoming vehicle that was trying to pass another vehicle after she called police to report him for reckless driving. The woman told police that she didn’t see an oncoming vehicle and doubted what he said was true.

Dec. 15
In need of fresh air
10:12 a.m. — 2500 block of Harbourside Drive. Fire. A reported fire turned out to be a kitchen cooking incident. Firefighters aired out the condominium.

Dec. 16
Purse pursuit
12:07 p.m. — 5100 block of GMD. Lost/Missing Property. A woman flew into Tampa the day before and realized after leaving the airport that her purse was missing. She later discovered that someone tried to use one of her credit cards but was declined and charged approximately $100 to a second card. Police wrote a report to provide initial documentation but told her she would have to report the incident in Tampa.