Cops Corner: Sarasota

Jan. 28
NO CHARGE
10:20 a.m. — 600 block of North Washington Boulevard. Petit Theft — Shoplifting. The manager of a gas station said a man came into the store and took two phone chargers. The man got into his pickup truck, which was white with blue flames, and sat there. The manager confronted the man, and the man eventually threw the phone chargers onto the ground and left.

Jan. 29
ONCE UPON A CRIME
3:51 p.m. — 1300 block of South Allendale Avenue. Petit Theft. A person witnessed a teenage male running down the block with a child’s bicycle. The person living next to the witness said her younger sister’s bike was missing from the yard. The bike was described as a white-and-pink princess bike with training wheels.

Jan. 30
OPEN-WINDOW POLICY
11 a.m. — 100 block of Whitaker Drive. Suspicion General. A man called police from his primary residence in Indianapolis to request his vacation house be checked for a possible burglary. The man said an exterminator who was at the house found a window open. The owner told police to use his hide-a-key to look inside the house. The officers reported that the window was on the second floor and only partially cranked open. They determined no robbery occurred.

IN PLAIN SIGHT
1:30 p.m. — 3500 block of South Tamiami Trail. Theft. An employee at a clothing store said three women came into the shop. One of the women took perfume bottles from a shelf and started putting them in her purse in full view of the store’s employees. According to the worker, the store’s policy did not allow them to stop suspected shoplifters or call the police while the suspected theft was ongoing. The woman who took the perfume smiled at the employees and left the store.

OPEN-AND-SHUT CASE
6:50 p.m. — 100 block of South Orange Avenue. Disabled Vehicle. A person reported that a car had been left in a parking lot with the doors completely open; the driver was not in the area. Officers located the car’s owner, who was working at a nearby restaurant. The man who owned the car said he probably forgot to close the doors because he was in a hurry to get to work. Nothing was missing from inside of the vehicle.

PARTY OF ONE
8:44 p.m. — 1100 block of North Washington Boulevard. Suspicion Person. Employees at a sandwich shop said a suspicious woman refused to leave the store. The woman told officers she was helping the employees set up for a party. The woman asked employees for napkins and free food, then she placed napkins and bags of chips on the tables.