Cops Corner: Longboat Key

April 23
Avoid a mow down
8:33 p.m. — 700 block of St. Judes Drive N. Code Enforcement. A woman fled the area with her lawnmower after police told her she was violating town codes by cutting grass after hours.

April 24
Don’t furnish these funds
9:47 a.m. — 700 block of Jungle Queen Way. Fraud. A man’s financial adviser told him he received messages from the man’s email address asking him to transfer $16,800 to a Lakeland man at his bank to purchase furniture. The adviser did not transfer the funds because the email did not look authentic. The man suspects his email account was hacked and found an email he previously sent with his account information.

Extending an olive branch
12:57 p.m. — 1000 block of Longboat Club Road. Public Service. A man said that while he washed his car two weeks ago, a branch from a tree on a neighboring property fell and caused a small cut that left a scar near his hairline. The caller said he did not want to pursue the matter, but the property manager has taken several steps to get the owner to remove nuisance trees. Police told him any damage caused by neighboring trees would be a civil matter.

Product placement
3:55 p.m. — 3500 block of Mistletoe Lane. Fraud. A man was using his computer when someone hacked in remotely and told him the machine had a problem he could fix for $149. Police spoke on the phone to a man with an accent who demanded a one-time payment of $149 to renew the product or he would lock up the computer and continue to call until he received the payment. Police told the man continued phone calls would constitute harassment and the threats to harm the computer amounted to extortion. The man said he did not care and hung up the phone.

April 26
Red-light violation
9:24 a.m. — 4900 block of GMD. Traffic. A driver told police he was not aware his license had been suspended last month for failing to pay a red-light camera ticket he received in the mail. He did not believe the fee was due yet. He received a citation and called a friend to pick him up.

Former flames
2:27 p.m. — 500 block of Norton St. Fire. Police warned a woman about the town’s ordinance prohibiting the burning of garbage after receiving a complaint about an open fire. The woman said she and her husband were cooking hot dogs but were finished and would extinguish the fire.