Cops Corner: Sarasota

Feb. 12
SPACING OUT
10:21 a.m. — 1900 block of Fruitville Road. Trespassing. A woman reported another female was sitting in the area of a parking space. The woman wanted the other female to leave the area because she feared a vehicle might hit her while attempting to park. The female, when asked to leave, left the area without any incident.

KICKING GLASS
1:14 p.m. — 130 block of North Orange Avenue. Criminal Mischief. A business owner reported someone had broken one of the business’ windows. The incident was caught on video surveillance, which showed a male walk by the window and kick it, breaking the glass. Two officers, familiar with the area’s homeless, were able to independently identify the suspect.

NAIL IN THE COFFIN
8 p.m. — 4100 block of Fruitville Road. Suspicion General/Unknown. A woman reported that a nail had punctured her car’s tire. The woman said she believed someone was intentionally targeting her vehicle and that her neighbor had also found two nails in his car’s tires. The woman requested extra patrol between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. in her neighborhood to monitor for suspicious activity.

YARD SIGNS
11 p.m. — 2300 block of Wood Street. Criminal Mischief. A woman reported someone took a number of signs advertising a garage sale at her house, tore them up and threw them in her front yard. The woman had no idea who was responsible for the vandalism.

Feb. 13
DRINKING BUDDIES
1:29 p.m. — 600 block of North East Avenue. Dispute/Fight. A man reported a disturbance with his roommate. The man said his roommate took his bottle of vodka from him while the man was using the bathroom. Officers instructed the roommate to return the bottle of vodka, and that the man was allowed to get intoxicated in his own home if he wanted to.

PEN PAL
2 p.m. — 1000 block of Ritz Carlton Drive. Suspicion General. A hotel employee received a suspicious letter from a previous guest, who was arrested in November for shoplifting from a different hotel owned by the same corporation. The guest wrote a letter to the parent corporation saying that if the hotel pressed charges, he would travel to Sarasota and start a war between the company and himself.

Feb. 14
BAIT AND SWITCH
8:36 a.m. — 600 block of North Washington Boulevard. Petit Theft — Shoplifting. An employee at a gas station witnessed a subject walk to the cooler and place a can of an alcoholic beverage into his jacket. The man then grabbed another can and walked to the counter. He said he didn’t have any money with him, put the second can down and left without paying.