Cops Corner: Sarasota

March 18
AWNING OFFING
6:25 a.m. — 1300 block of Main Street. Suspicion General/Unknown. Officers responded to a report of a business’s awning being torn down. An officer found that a restaurant’s awning had been broken and torn from the side of the building. It appeared that the awning had been damaged by the wind.

March 19
UNWANTED UNKNOWN
12:24 a.m. — 1700 block of Central Avenue. Other Disorderly Conduct. Officers met with a man who called in reference to a dispute. The man was intoxicated. The man told officers that a woman was not supposed to be at the house, and that she was trying to cause a problem. Asked who the woman was, the man told the officers that they knew who she was, and that she was not allowed back there. Officers were unable to locate the woman with the information available.

SPRING CLEANING
8:27 a.m. — 3300 block of North Tamiami Trail. Dispute/Fight. A building’s maintenance worker reported that a man had made a mess in the property’s parking lot. The man said that he was cleaning out his car after it flooded due to rain. He cleaned up the mess before leaving without incident.

SAY UNCLE
10:14 p.m. — 2100 block of Fifth Street. Trespassing. A man reported that his nephew kept coming to his house and causing problems. The man said his nephew accused him of taking his wallet and not returning it. The man said he didn’t know where the wallet was, that the nephew did not have any money and that he wanted the nephew trespassed from the property. The nephew, who was intoxicated, became agitated when officers told him he was not allowed on the property. The nephew threatened to come back and harm the uncle, and he told the officers that he didn’t care if he was arrested or if the officers had a badge and a gun.

March 20
LIGHTS OUT
12:37 p.m. — Boulevard of the Presidents. Schemes to Defraud. An employee at a restaurant said an unknown caller reported that the electricity at the building would be shut off if they didn’t load $299 on a money card at a convenience store. The restaurant’s owner spoke with her landlord, who said the call was a scam.

FASHION FAUX PAS
1:39 p.m. — 3500 block of South Tamiami Trail. Theft — From Building. An employee at a department store reported that a man used counterfeit money to make two large purchases of short-sleeve polo shirts. During the first purchase, the man used 12 counterfeit $100 bills to purchase 14 polo shirts, valued at $1,153.46. Eleven minutes later, the man used six more counterfeit $100 bills to purchase eight polo shirts, valued at $582.08, from the same cashier. The man also conducted the same scam at a department store in Tampa that afternoon.