Cops Corner: Sarasota

April 5
TEST DRIVE
8:51 a.m. — 1600 block of North Washington Boulevard. Civil Problem. Officers responded to a complaint regarding a disturbance at a gas station. A man said the clerk at the gas station gave him $200 to take the man’s motorcycle to a mechanic and check it out for a potential purchase, but that the clerk never returned the motorcycle. The clerk said the $200 was a down payment for purchase of the motorcycle. The man said he was still making payments on the bike. When the auto shop that owned the bike was contacted, the owner said the man was behind on his payments. She called a tow truck and repossessed the motorcycle.

JEERS
10:12 p.m. — Marina Plaza. Trespass — Commercial. A man entered a restaurant and began to talk with patrons at the bar. Eventually, the man began to scream at the bartender and people sitting at the bar. In the process, the man threw his drink. The manager of the restaurant asked the man to leave, but he refused. Officers informed the man that he was trespassed from the property for a year, at which point the man said he understood and left the area.

April 6
SPRING BREAK-IN
12:34 p.m. — 3800 block of Greenway Drive. Miscellaneous Officer. An officer received a report of a possible burglary, after a witness saw a woman enter an apartment through a window. After arriving at the scene, the officer found a screen pulled out and the window open. The woman in the apartment said she lives there, but had stayed with a friend the previous night. She went to retrieve something from her apartment, but found the door was locked. Her mother was at the store. She entered through the window to get in. The neighbor who reported the incident confirmed the woman lives in the apartment.

LOUSY NEIGHBORS
4:08 p.m. — 3000 block of Cheshire Lane. Miscellaneous Officer. A man complained that a suspicious smell was coming from the apartment next to his. He also said that a lice or bedbug problem was coming from that apartment, and that the arms and legs of his family members were covered in bites. The man said the management offered no help. After entering the apartment, an officer found an eviction notice and a large amount of food, trash and bugs. The officer called the emergency contact number for the apartment, but was told the situation was not an emergency and that nobody would be sent out to assist.

April 5
WEDDING CRASHERS
5:30 p.m. — 400 block of Benjamin Franklin Drive. Miscellaneous Officer. A woman had a permit to use a portion of the beach as an area for an outdoor wedding. Upon arriving at the beach, the woman found there was a group in the permitted space that was refusing to vacate the area. After officers arrived and informed the group about the permit, the group agreed to move.