Cops Corner: Sarasota

Aug. 7
HIDING VASE
10 p.m. — 1200 block of North Palm Avenue. Burglary — Structure. An antique storeowner reported that up to three vases were taken overnight from the property’s driveway. When the owner entered the store one morning, he found a broken vase inside the secured driveway next to his access gate. The man stores merchandise outside, sitting behind a 6-foot cement wall and access gate. He speculated that a person may have dropped the vase while climbing the access gate. The owner could not provide an exact inventory but estimated that three were missing.

Aug. 8
LEFT BEHIND
6:43 a.m. — 333 North Tamiami Trail. Abandoned Autos. An employee at a shopping center reported a car had been left in front of a store with the lights on and the driver’s door open. Officers were unable to contact the car’s owner, and because the vehicle was in a fire lane and blocking a dry cleaning store, they had it towed.

Aug. 9
LOCKING HORNS
2:58 p.m. — 3700 block of Bayshore Road. Civil Problem. An employee at a tourist attraction hired a locksmith to create new keys for the business. After the locksmith started working, the employee attempted to cancel the job and refused to pay the $40 response fee. The employee said he canceled the job because he had confused the locksmith with a similarly named company. The locksmith left because he had other jobs to do, and said he forgot he still had the original keys with him. The locksmith returned to give back the keys, and another employee paid the locksmith for the response fee.

CASUAL THEFT
11:30 p.m. — 1300 block of 19th Street. Suspicion General/Unknown. A man said an acquaintance, whom he only knows on a first-name basis, stopped by his house at 11:30 p.m. When he woke up at 7 a.m. the next morning, the woman had left the residence. Later that day, the man discovered the key to his vehicle was missing. The man suspected the woman might have something to do with the missing key. He could not provide a description for the woman other than her first name, race, gender and age.

Aug. 10
TRASH TALK
12:12 p.m. — 1300 block of North Lockwood Ridge Road. Dispute/Fight. Officers responded to a dispute at an apartment complex. One resident complained another resident followed him to the trash area. Officers spoke with both subjects and told the residents to stay away from one another.