Cops Corner: East County

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

March 9
 Copper caper
3:16 p.m. — 3700 block of 53rd Avenue E. Theft. Unknown person(s) entered a business property and cut 10 feet of copper wire from two exterior air conditioning units. The person(s) fled by unknown means in an unknown direction.

Dog bites
5:10 p.m. — 200 block of 141st Court NE. Animal Bites. A deputy responded to a dog bite. A woman had two small lacerations on her leg. The dog was loose when it bit the woman. The deputy went to the home of the dog owner, who said he was aware the dog had gotten out of the house but unaware it had bitten somebody. An animal control employee took the dog away. The dog owner was advised what he would have to do to get the dog back.

Game over
6:58 p.m. — 5200 block of 51st Street E. Theft. A man reported someone stole his wallet out of his backpack at a park. The man said that when he arrived at the park, he placed his wallet in the backpack. He then placed the bag on a bench and began to play soccer. About two hours later, he realized the wallet was missing. The man did not witness anyone taking the wallet.

March 10
 Ipad imposter
7:36 p.m. — 5800 block of Ranch Lake Boulevard. Theft. After getting his hair cut inside a salon at a department store, a man began to shop. Upon exiting the store, the man realized he had forgotten to retrieve his iPad from his shopping cart. The iPad was no longer in the cart. The department store reported it has video footage of somebody else taking the iPad from the cart and leaving the store with it.

March 11 
 Changing story
3:25 a.m. — 8200 block of Stirling Falls Circle. Information Only. A person reported that her vehicle was stolen. She awoke at 3 a.m. to find her white Mercedes-Benz station wagon missing from her driveway. She also found a note left inside her house. A person she is involved with — but not dating — has been staying in her house for a week. The woman believes that person took her car to drive to see his wife in Venice. After filling out an affidavit, the woman changed her mind and said she didn’t know if this man had stolen her vehicle. She said the man might have asked her if he could take the vehicle. She doesn’t remember. She said she hopes the man doesn’t get in trouble. In the end, the vehicle was not registered with the Sheriff’s Office as stolen.

Rental Rounds
9:05 a.m. — 600 block of 67th Street Circle E. Property Found. A man found a loaded .38-caliber firearm in the center console of his rented car. A deputy ran the history of the firearm, which showed it was not stolen. The man had rented the vehicle an hour prior to finding the firearm.