Cops Corner: East County

July 5
Open-door policy
4:40 a.m. — 5400 block of Lena Road. Information Only. A deputy found a vehicle with its driver’s door open. There was no sign of forced entry, and there was money in the center console. The deputy tried to make contact with the vehicle’s owner but could not. The deputy secured the vehicle and left the area. He later learned the vehicle was rented to a man.

July 12
Change your ways
6:15 p.m. — 8400 Cooper Creek Boulevard. Forgery. A deputy responded to a report of a man trying to use counterfeit money at a department store. The deputy located the man, who handed over his wallet and then fled the area in a white car. Roughly 20 minutes later, the department store called the sheriff’s office. The store had received a counterfeit $100 bill. Surveillance video showed the man who fled had tried to buy items with that bill.

July 13
Figure eight
3:30 p.m. — 8300 block of Lockwood Ridge Road. Theft. A man stole eight items at a department store. The items are valued at $34.14. The man concealed three of the items and placed the others in a shopping cart. He then attempted to exit the store, past all points of sale, without paying for the items. Store staff confronted the man. A deputy issued him a trespass warning.

Cruel intentions
3:43 p.m. — 5000 block of Ranch Lake Boulevard. Theft. A woman selected 77 clothing items from the value section of a department store and concealed them in plastic bags she had brought into the store. She then exited the store without paying for the items. The woman was taken to the store’s security office. She admitted she was carrying no money and had entered the store with the intent to steal.

That won’t cut it
5:05 p.m. — 16900 block of Upper Manatee River Road. Information Only. While on patrol at a park, deputies have continually discovered the lock and chain to the emergency-access gate at an abandoned boat ramp is cut. On this day, a deputy found the small master lock cut off the gate chain. Nearby, a group of people was having a cook out. The deputy questioned them. They said they entered the park by walking their coolers and grill into it. The deputy noticed no drag marks that would have proven that to be true. The deputy then headed to the park’s parking lot, where he located the group’s vehicles. Two of the vehicles were covered in fresh mud. The deputy returned to the group and told them he had the evidence to prove they had entered the park unlawfully with their vehicles. The deputy ordered the group to leave the park. Deputies could not prove that the group had cut the lock and chain. This is not the first time deputies had administered warnings to this group.

Training wheels
6:56 p.m. — 8000 block of Market Street. Theft. A man entered a drug store. When he exited the store, his bicycle was gone. There is no video available showing the bike being taken.

Arresting greeting
8:13 p.m. — 2900 block of 53rd Avenue E. Theft. Inside a department store, a man cut the security devices of two prepaid cell phones. He then concealed the phones. The man carried a knife. Store security monitored the subject and called the sheriff’s office. The man exited the store. When he did, a deputy greeted him by arresting him. The man also possessed heroin.

View East Co. Cops Report 07.18.13 in a larger map