Cops Corner: Longboat Key

Oct. 20
Dust up
6:32 p.m. — 2100 block of University Parkway. Suspicious Circumstance. The owner of a used-car lot thought the cars on her lot looked extremely dusty. Upon further inspection, she discovered someone had sprayed several of the vehicles on her lot with a fire extinguisher. A neighbor reported some kids were drinking near the site the night before.

Oct. 23
Lost call
3:30 p.m. — 6600 block of Greenbrook Boulevard. Lost Property. A boy told police he thought he left his cell phone on a bench in a school locker room. The boy and his father searched the locker room with no luck. Police couldn’t locate the phone using a finder app.

Oct. 25
Fare fight
2:28 a.m. — 7700 block of Plantation Circle. Fraud. A cab driver told police he picked up a man in Sarasota and drove him to East County and waited in the cab while the occupant promised to come back with the fare. He came back, but only with $6 in cash for a $25 ride. The man refused to answer the door when police arrived, and the cab driver received a case number for his complaint.

Cut and run
8:42 a.m. — 5600 block of Whitehead Street. Theft. Someone used a pair of cable cutters to cut the cable and lock off a woman’s kayaks that were secured to a kayak lodge near her house. The kayaks were stolen, and police are searching the cable cutters left behind for prints.

Repeat offender
10:11 a.m. — 11900 block of Winding Woods Way. Battery. A man came home after drinking all night with his friends and started arguing with his wife of 15 years. The wife told police he pushed her and left the house. She didn’t want to press charges, but police transported him to jail anyway because they had probable cause and it wasn’t the first time they were called to the house for a domestic battery call.

Bad bill
11:30 a.m. — 1700 block of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard. Forgery. A woman attempted to use a fake bill in a grocery store and fled on foot before police arrived.

Copper conundrum
4:14 p.m. — 6200 block of 35th Court East. Theft. A homebuilder superintendent reported that someone stole 40 feet of copper air conditioner lines and 100 feet of copper wire from a home that didn’t have doors installed yet. The theft is valued at $1,400.

Determined shopper
6 p.m. — 5800 block of Ranch Lake Boulevard. Found Property. A woman found a wallet in a store parking lot and called police to report she recovered it. The woman, though, left the area with the wallet because she wanted to shop across the street and scheduled a time to turn over the wallet. She was advised to stay put next time she recovers someone else’s belongings or turn the item over to the store.

Fiancé fallout
9:37 p.m. — 7100 block of Chatum Light Run. Domestic Disturbance. A man and his fiancé had an argument and denied any violence occurred. Police attempted to give the fiancé a domestic violence packet but she was uncooperative, intoxicated and refused to come outside. Police now know how the man felt.

Call stumbled upon
11:36 p.m. — 1500 block of 55th Avenue East. Suspicious Circumstance. Police observed a man stumbling into a road that couldn’t walk on his own. An officer had to physically hold onto him so he didn’t fall to the ground. It was discovered he was involved in a disturbance call that the officer was going to. The man told police he was homeless and lived in the wood. He was transported to the hospital.

Oct. 26
 Property problems
3:16 a.m. — Intersection of U.S. 301 and University Parkway. Suspicious Circumstance. Police observed a bicycle leaning against a shopping cart on the southeast corner of the intersection. The bike had a bike lock connected from it to the shopping cart. Police believe a homeless man is using the shopping cart to make sure no one steals his bike and made plans to investigate the matter further.