Cops Corner: Longboat Key

Sept. 25
Ditched car
8:11 p.m. — Intersection of Gulf of Mexico Drive and Broadway. Traffic. A woman drove her car into a ditch during a torrential downpour in which visibility was poor. The woman told police she was fine and that she drove into the ditch when she tried to turn around in the road and could not see the drop-off in front of her. The officer called a tow truck to retrieve the vehicle.

Cooler crash
12:22 p.m. — Intersection of Gulf of Mexico Drive and Chipping Lane. Property Found. Police saw a yellow 10-gallon water cooler fall off the back of a truck and into the middle of the road, causing several vehicles to swerve to avoid hitting it. The officer got out of his car to retrieve the cooler. He waited with it for 10 minutes but took the container to the police station after the driver of the truck did not return to retrieve it.

Sept. 26
That answers that
4:57 p.m. — 3200 block of Bayou Sound. Public Service. A woman whose husband recently died called police to report a scam after receiving a strange letter from an insurance company with which she said she had never done business. The letter included specific questions the woman was uncomfortable answering. The letter stated she would receive a payout on the policy. Police told the woman to call the listed number of the company. She realized it was an old forgotten policy.

Sept. 27
Thou shalt not steal
3:25 p.m. — 6200 block of GMD. Larceny. A woman reported that her purse was stolen from a church kitchen after she left it for 10 minutes and went into the church to tend to other business. When she returned, the purse was gone. A man nobody knew was reportedly seen entering the church and nearly knocked down a congregation member when he came inside. The man was described as white with blond hair, wearing a plain white T-shirt and cargos. Police searched for the man but were unable to find him.

Sept. 29
Burglars under the bridge
10:14 a.m. — Off the Key. Larceny. A bridge tender at the Longboat Pass Bridge called police after he found that a marine navigation light, worth $700, from the bridge fender system had been stolen. Wires were apparently cut to free the light, but police didn’t find any suspicious individuals or boats in the area.

Phone fraud
11:01 a.m. — 2400 block of GMD. Public Service. A husband and wife called police after receiving several phone calls from a caller with a foreign accent who claimed he was from the IRS and that the couple owed money for back taxes. There have been reports of similar calls in recent months on the Key and nationwide. The couple knew the calls were a scam but were afraid that the callers might come to their home because they knew their address. Police assured them that the scammers were in another country.

Dishing dirt
5:50 p.m. — 800 block of Tarawitt Drive. Public Service. Heavy rains washed away dirt from the yard of a home under construction. Police observed the dirt being washed into a storm drain and spilling out into a nearby canal. The neighbor who called police said he was going to talk to the home’s contractors, but he wanted a record of the occurrence. 

Sept. 30
Early-morning masons
7:40 a.m. — 500 block of Hornblower Lane. Code Enforcement. Members of a stonemason crew said their off-site boss told them to start work at a Key residence at 7:30 a.m., not knowing that town ordinance restricts construction work before 8 a.m. The site manager received a warning after a neighbor complained.