Cops Corner: Longboat Key

By Observer Staff
| 4:00 a.m. April 23, 2014

Longboat Key
Cops Corner

April 10
Source of smoke
11:25 a.m. — 4300 block of GMD. Fire. A condo resident smelled would smoke and called 911. Firefighters and police determined the smoke came from a grill.

Still waiting for the key
5:17 p.m. — 5400 block of GMD. Public Service. A woman paid $540 using PayPal to rent a condo for three days. A man told her via email that he would meet her in the lobby to give her the key but was not there when she arrived, and she has not been able to contact him. PayPal agreed to reimburse her payment. Police told her if she does not receive reimbursement, she can file a formal complaint for fraud.

Party boat
9:49 p.m. — 3000 block of GMD. Noise. A small cruise ship that was tied to a dock and disembarking dozens of people was the source of noise about which police received a complaint. The boat’s captain said the ship is a dinner cruise boat from Tampa that had been chartered by an automobile corporation to transport guests to the location. He apologized for the loud music and said he would be heading back to Tampa soon and would not play music.

April 14
Keep your distance
2:05 p.m. — 6300 block of GMD. Boat. A man reported that an amphibious boat came close to his family members, who were swimming in the Gulf. The vessel’s owner told police he just had the boat delivered, and a company representative was giving him a demonstration. The owner did not think he did anything wrong. Police told him to stay at least 150 feet away from swimmers and have the vehicle registered and tagged before driving it on the roadway.

Runaway reptile
11:14 p.m. — 700 block of Tarawitt Drive. Suspicious Circumstance. A snake fell out from a window while police assisted a woman who heard a suspicious noise. Earlier, the woman heard a strange noise and found a screw on her window ledge and a small amount of blood, causing her to worry that someone tried to break into her home. Police believe the woman heard the snake eating a small animal, such as a lizard, and the blood came from the animal. The snake slithered away unharmed.