Cops Corner: Sarasota

Sept. 6
CLEAN GETAWAY
7:37 p.m. 2100 block of North Washington Boulevard. Petit Theft — Shoplifting. An employee at a store believed a woman might have stolen items because her purse looked bulky. The employee checked video surveillance and saw the woman had put a container of cleaning product in her purse. She walked to the front of the store and asked the employee a question about that cleaning product before leaving. Another viewing of the security tape showed she also took a sports drink. When confronted, the woman said she had bought the cleaning product at a different store, but admitted to the theft when shown the video.

LIGHTS OUT
8:00 a.m. 1800 block of Hibiscus Street. Criminal Mischief. A woman found that the landscape lights in front of her house had been damaged overnight. The bulb had been ripped out; the wires were broken; and the cover to the landscape light transformer had been pulled open. The light system no longer worked.

Sept. 7
HIGH AND DRY
10:17 a.m. 1900 block of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Way. Other Disorderly Conduct. A woman working at a store said a man came into the business and started causing a disturbance. The woman said the man took a pad of dry cleaner tags before leaving the store. She did not want to press charges, but did want the pad back. The man denied taking the items, and officers could not locate the pad.

Sept. 8
KEEPING TABS
1:38 a.m. 4600 block of North Tamiami Trail. Theft. Two men paid for several orders among a group of eight people before the group left a bar. Two drink orders were not paid for, so an employee of the bar confronted one of the men while he was getting into a vehicle. Before driving away, the man told the employee he paid for his and his girlfriend’s drinks and wasn’t responsible for anyone else.

SLEEP AND RUN
9:00 a.m. 300 block of Madison Drive. Suspicion General. A woman finished her shift at work and found that someone had been inside her car. She could not remember if she had locked the vehicle. The sunshade in the windshield had been put up and the passenger seat had been reclined, as if someone had been taking a nap. Nothing from the car was taken. The woman called her mother to ask if she were playing a joke on her, but her mother did not answer the phone.