2013: The Best of Cops Corner

Jan. 27
PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE
4:51 p.m. — 300 block of Avenida De Paradisio. Disturbance. A man called deputies because he heard his neighbor yelling obscenities and hurling papers into the Grand Canal. The man said he heard the neighbor say something about “hamburgers” and saw photo albums floating in the canal. Officers arrested the man and recovered the man’s parents’ photo albums by using a pool skimmer.

Feb. 12
PAPER TRAIL
7 p.m. — 1600 block of Main Street. Burglary of a Structure. A business owner told an officer that he arrived at his office in the morning to find that someone broke in and stole four laptops, two televisions, a lamp, toilet paper and a speaker. The suspect stole about $3,400 in items from the office. The back door to the office had been left open. The officer was able to lift a single fingerprint from a mirror, which had been removed from the wall and left on the couch.

March 27
A HOUSE DIVIDED
6:23 p.m. — 900 block of Beach Road. Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon. A man and his father-in-law began arguing about politics while driving to a wedding. The man pulled out a pocketknife and told his father-in-law he would cut his throat. Wedding guests tried to intervene, which made the man angrier. The man’s son was in the backseat and declined to give a written statement.

April 2
THE OMEN
11:45 a.m. — 500 block of S. Orange Avenue. Suspicious Person. A man walked into an optometrist’s office and asked for an appointment. When the woman working at the front desk told him there were no appointments available, the man said, “You’ll see, your fate will be determined.”

May 1
ROOTED IN ANGER
7:40 p.m. — 1400 block of Main Street. Trespassing. A bartender told a patron he had to leave. The patron yelled at employees, then proceeded to go outside and pull plants out of a planter and throw them at the bartender. Police officers located the man across the street and gave him a trespass warning.

July 7
WHERE’S THE BEEF?
12:46 a.m. — 1400 block of Main Street. Burglary. A man said he heard people downstairs at his business. When he checked to see what was going on, he saw two males taking meat from the refrigerator and a woman standing as lookout. The man began wrestling with the suspects, who eventually broke loose. The man said he was able to chase down one of the burglars, but the woman hit him in the face, which allowed them to get away.

Aug. 29
BREAKING POINT
12:30 p.m. 2100 block of Siesta Drive. Dispute/Fight. A woman tried to get on a SCAT bus, but the driver informed her that she had a trespass warning and couldn’t get on the bus. The woman said she needed to get on the bus to get to the hospital because she may have broken a finger. When records of a trespass warning were found, the woman said she had completely forgotten about the incident.

Sept. 21
CRIME RIB
1 p.m. 200 block of North Lime Avenue. Petit Theft — Shoplifting. An employee at a grocery store saw a man walking out of the store with a concealed item. The employee confronted the man and found he was hiding a slab of ribs. The employee said he was able to recover the item, which was in the man’s waistband, without it being damaged. The man said what he did was stupid and he didn’t know why he did it.

Oct. 10
CRUNCH TIME
2:35 a.m. 5100 block of Ocean Boulevard. Impaired Person. An officer was making sure everyone had left a bar when a man approached him and stood directly in front of him. The officer asked if the man needed any help; the man started talking, but wasn’t making any sense. The man then tried to get into a fight with another person. Afterward, the man got on the ground and tried to do an abdominal exercise with his feet in the air.

Nov. 16
DIRTY DANCING
9:16 a.m. — 400 block of John Ringling Boulevard. Suspicion Person. A man was observed break dancing and behaving erratically. The man was also dancing with vulgar motion, “humping” cars, throwing himself against street signs and saying inappropriate things to children. Other officers advised the man had also been observed downtown.

Dec. 10
DON’T BE ALARMED
1 p.m. — 700 block of 45th Street. Suspicion Person. A woman heard a man knock on her door. As she was approaching the door, she said it sounded like the man tried to turn the doorknob. The woman asked the man what he was doing, and he said he was leaving a brochure. The woman said the man left without leaving anything behind. The house next door had a brochure for home alarm systems, and the alarm company said they send employees out to distribute brochures.