Cops Corner: East County

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

Jan. 6
Snooze you lose
6:06 a.m. — Intersection of 53rd Avenue E. and U.S. 301. Disabled Vehicles. An unoccupied vehicle was parked in the westbound turn lane of northbound U.S. 301 with its hazard lights on. The registered owner of the vehicle had an out-of-county address. The sheriff’s office waited for someone to claim the vehicle, but no one did. The vehicle was deemed a traffic hazard and was towed.

Jan. 7
Fraudulent footwork
9:41 a.m. — 6200 block of State Road 64 E. Theft. A woman was observed in the shoe department of a store selecting a pair of shoes. The woman concealed the shoes in her purse. She then walked to the ladies department, where she selected a package of socks. She pulled the price tag from the socks and placed them in her purse. She exited the grocery side of the store without paying for the items.

Tag grab
12:38 a.m. — 3200 block of 53rd Avenue E. Theft. A person reported that some time in the past month, someone took a tag off her trailer. The victim says the trailer is never driven and is always parked on the side of the business where she works. It is used as a storage unit.

Ding-dong ditch
9:03 a.m. — 8800 block of White Sage Loop. Theft. A man was doing work at a home when FedEx delivered a package and left it outside the door. The package contained a computer. Within an hour of the package being delivered, someone stole it. The homeowners were not home at the time, and the man doing work at the home said he did not hear the doorbell ring.

Thrown off
9:04 a.m. — Tallevast Road/US 301. Criminal Mischief. An unknown person riding a motorcycle and wearing black leather clothing and a black helmet threw an unknown object at the victim’s vehicle. The vehicle sustained $1,000 in damage.

Jan. 8
Double whammy
9:45 a.m. — Kay Road NE/Port Harbour Parkway. Confiscated Property. While conducting a traffic stop for someone running a stop sign, a deputy determined the driver of the vehicle had a suspended license. The deputy issued citations for running a stop sign and driving with a suspended license. The vehicle tag and driver’s license were seized.

Animal cruelty
3:35 p.m. — 27100 block of Crosby Road. Cruelty to Animals. An anonymous person called to report there was an injured goat in the front pasture of someone’s property.

Lost in translation
3:36 p.m. — 3000 block of 26th Avenue E. Lost Property. A woman reported that an online pharmacy lost her prescription medication she had sent to the company. When the woman called the pharmacy, she was told the company never received the prescription.

Jan. 10
Unregistered 
1:58 p.m. — 5100 block of Creekside Trail. Theft. A woman reported someone cut the registration decal off her license plate with a knife.

Card shark
2:02 p.m. — 5200 block of University Parkway. Attempt to Use ID Without Consent. Unknown suspect(s) used a person’s department store credit card to open a line of credit for $1,000. The person did this without the victim’s permission.

Stolen identity 
2:05 p.m. — 2900 block of 53rd Avenue E. Fraud. Someone stole a woman’s credit cards from her purse, while she was at work. The credit cards were later used at four different locations. During some of the transactions, the unknown suspect(s) used the victim’s identification to confirm the purchases.