Cops Corner: East County

The following information was gathered from incident and arrest reports obtained from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

Feb. 8
 Flashing lights
2:05 a.m. — 5100 block of Creekside Trail. DUI. Deputies responded to a report of a vehicle, sitting on a person’s lawn with its lights flashing on and off. Deputies spoke with the driver of the vehicle, who appeared impaired. The deputies requested the assistance of a traffic unit deputy. The traffic unit deputy conducted a DUI test on the driver. Deputies deemed the driver impaired. The driver’s mother arrived on scene to take custody of the vehicle.

Feb. 13 
 Classroom disruption
12:05 a.m. — 6200 block of River Club Boulevard. Information Only. A female middle school teacher reported that a female student looked at her and said, “You’re lame.” About 45 minutes later, the student looked at the teacher again and said, “You are going to be sharkeished.” The student demonstrated what that phrase meant with an uppercut punch. The teacher said she never felt threatened. The teacher sent the student to the office, where she received detention. The student’s mother said the incident would not happen again. The incident did not warrant being considered abuse.

Feb. 14 
 Easy Access
11:37 a.m. — 8600 block of State Road 70 E. Burglary. A 17-year-old girl parked her vehicle at a gas station to go inside and change her clothing. Once inside, she realized she left the doors unlocked. Upon returning to the vehicle, she discovered her wallet had been stolen from the center console.

Feb. 16
 Laptop lure
4:12 p.m. — 5000 block of 32nd Street E. Theft. A man reported a laptop was stolen from his home. The victim believes that his ex-girlfriend, who has a key to his home, stole the laptop.

Feb. 17 
 Long-distance purchase
6:10 p.m. — 29400 block of Saddlebag Trail. Fraud. A man and his wife reported his Visa card showed $75 withdrawn from his account. The purchase was made in Illinois. The man has never been to Illinois and never lost possession of his card.

Feb. 18 
 Recovered call
9:49 a.m. — 700 block of Greyhawk Boulevard. Theft. Three juveniles were at the community pool of a residential neighborhood. Another juvenile, who was not associated with the others, also was there. The three juveniles who knew each other left the scene. The boy reported the theft of his cell phone to his mother, who owns the phone. She tracked the location of the phone to a residence by using an app. Upon arrival at the residence, she confronted the three juveniles, who denied knowledge of the theft. However, during the sheriff’s office investigation, one of the juveniles admitted to stealing and destroying the phone. The juvenile’s father gave the victim $600 cash to buy a new phone.