Cops Corner: Longboat Key

Aug. 29
TOOL THIEVES
8:57 a.m. — 3400 GMD. Larceny. More than $700 worth of tools were taken from a resort’s maintenance room during the night. No fingerprints were found in the area, and security cameras failed to capture an image.

CHAIR CARE
2:31 p.m. —1500 block of GMD. Property Found. Police were called to retrieve a large white beach chair from the middle of the road. The officer took the chair to the station for holding; he believed it had fallen from a car. He estimated the chair’s worth at $75.

FOUR DOG NIGHT
7:40 p.m. — 5451 block of GMD. Dog on Beach. Police were called when a man with four dogs was seen taking an evening stroll down the beach. The officer located the man and notified him of the town’s ordinance against dogs on the beach. The man said he didn’t know about the rule and left the beach immediately.

Aug. 31
UNANNOUNCED GUESTS
3 p.m. — 7000 Bayside Drive. Suspicious Vehicle. A resident noticed a suspicious vehicle parked at his neighbor’s house; paddleboarders in the bay near Jewfish Key were identified as the culprits. When the officer made contact with the owners of the vehicle, they said that they had the owner’s permission. The owner was contacted, and his guests were confirmed.

COAST TO COAST
4:25 p.m. — Off Key. Boat. Marine patrol officers responded to a call from the Coast Guard for assistance in rescuing passengers from a distressed boat off Anna Maria Island. When the officer arrived, two other area police and fire departments were on the scene as well, and the Coast Guard had already begun to rescue passengers from the boat, which was taking on water.

ROAD RAGE
4:31 p.m. —5400 block of GMD. Bicycle. A female cyclist called police after she claimed a group of cyclists she tried to pass on the road harassed her. She said the group yelled obscenities at her as she passed, and when she got off her bike to confront them, one of the cyclists grabbed her arm. Police searched the area but saw no large groups on the Key.

LEARNING CURVE
11:29 p.m. —500 block of Bay Isles Road. Suspicious Person. Police responded to a report of a suspicious driver circling an area grocery store. The officer located the vehicle and found two teenagers, one with a learner’s permit and another who said he was helping his girlfriend learn to drive. The two practiced in the area for a few more minutes then left the scene.

Sept. 1
RETURN POLICY
1:17 p.m. — 1600 block of GMD. Found Property. Fishermen contacted marine patrol about a submerged kayak 50 yards off the beach of a shuttered resort. When the officer arrived, the boat was too heavy to pull out and the surrounding waters were too shallow to get the patrol boat near. Police found the kayak matched the description of one stolen from the resort weeks earlier, so they notified the owner.

BEER CAN BURGLARS
4:15 p.m. — Off Key. Burglary. When a fisherman anchored his boat near Beer Can Island to fish offshore, his tackle box, containing $300 cash, and boat keys were stolen from the vessel while his back was turned. The man said he suspected a group of men he saw leaving the island, but both police and the victim were unable to get positive identification.

PESKY PUPS
8:54 p.m. — 500 block of Gunwale Lane. Animal Nuisance. Police responded to a complaint about a neighbor’s barking dog. When the officer arrived at the scene, he could hear the dogs as he approached, however, no one arrived at the door when he knocked. The dogs stopped barking once the officer left.

Sept. 3
CODE CALL
10:51 a.m. — 6800 block of Hughes St. Code Enforcement. A residence with an overgrown yard, dirty pool and bags of trash near the street prompted a neighbor to call police. When the officer arrived, he discovered a rental agent owned the house and that the neighbor had tried to call several times without result. The officer observed the overgrown area and notified a code enforcement officer.