Cops Corner: Sarasota

May 14
Transit tussle
6:26 p.m. — 1500 block of First Street. Dispute/Fight. A man said another man hit him in the face at the bus station. The man said he was walking, and the other man yelled at him to get out of the way because a bus was coming. The two got in a verbal altercation, which led to them pushing each other. The man said the other man hit him in the mouth during the tussle. The other man said they were pushing each other and that he was just trying to defend himself. He said he might have hit the other man in the mouth on accident.

May 15
This one’s in the bag
8:37 a.m. — 2100 block of North Washington Boulevard. Petit Theft — Shoplifting. An employee at a convenience store said a man came in the store, took a bag, filled it with miscellaneous items and left without paying. Surveillance footage did not show what exactly the man took, but he clearly came into the store with nothing and left with a bag full of items.

Bad Reception
10:30 a.m. — 1500 block of First Street. Criminal Mischief. A man let another man borrow his cell phone. When the man asked for his phone back, he said the other man threw the phone to the ground, breaking the phone. The man did not want the incident investigated, but wanted a report made.

May 18
Powerless
5 p.m. — 1600 block of 35th Street. Petit Theft from Building. A man was remodeling his rental unit and noticed one day that he had no power on the property. He discovered that, during the night, someone had stolen his Florida Power and Light meter. Officers were able to lift fingerprints from the meter cover.

May 19
Hear no evil
9:35 p.m. — 1900 block of Hillview Street. Noise Violation Vehicle/Equipment. A person complained about loud music coming from a bar. An officer came to the scene, and though he could hear the music, he was unable to determine whether there was a violation because nobody on the scene had a noise meter. He said the music did not appear to be excessively loud, and the bartender inside agreed to close the door to muffle the music.

Sour grapes
2:28 p.m. — 1400 block of First Street. Petit Theft — Shoplifting. An employee at a grocery store reported that a man came into the store on an electric shopping cart and stole a bottle of wine valued at $3. The employee contacted the subject, who agreed to come back into the store and was given the opportunity to purchase the wine. The man did not have enough money, and he left the building. He left the electric cart outside the building and left the area on a bike.