Cops Corner: Longboat Key 4.02.15

March 18
Gate keepers
8:47 a.m. — 4400 block of GMD.

Property Damage: A condo manager and association president provided police with a surveillance video that appeared to show two residents pull a security gate arm off its mounting to allow a visitor to enter the complex. One resident told police he was having guests over for St. Patrick’s Day but they could not get through the gate, even though he opened it for them with his phone. After the failed attempt, he and another resident removed the gate. Both men apologized and agreed they would not interfere with the gate again, and management agreed not to press charges.

Give him a pass
10:10 p.m. — Longboat Pass Bridge.

Disturbance: An anonymous boater said a group of fishermen threw fishing weights at him when he passed under the bridge. They told police they had not thrown weights at him. One fisherman said that the boater yelled at him about their fishing lines blocking a portion of the pass. Police told the group that fishing is prohibited on the center span of the bridge and that a boater has as much of a right to pass through the channel as fishermen have to fish from designated areas of the bridge.

March 19
Open and shut case
10:10 a.m. — 4400 block of Exeter Drive.

Lost/Missing Property: A woman came to the police station to report her purse was missing. She returned an hour and 20 minutes later to report that she found it in a drawer.

Neighbor to the north
11:08 a.m. — 5400 block of GMD.

Lost/Missing Property: A man reported his Canadian driver’s license missing and needed a police report to obtain another license.

Breaking news
9:17 a.m. — 6400 block of GMD.

Vandalism: A church employee reported that unknown suspect(s) broke out a light bulb outside the church’s main office. He said the same individual(s) could be responsible for breaking beer bottles in the dumpster area of the property. Police agreed to increase patrols in the area.

March 20
Knock, knock? No one’s there
12:51 a.m. — 500 block of Ketch Lane.

Suspicious Circumstance: A woman reported someone ringing her doorbell and knocking on her door but didn’t look outside or answer because she wasn’t expecting visitors. Police were unable to locate anyone suspicious.

March 21
What’s in your wallet?
10:36 a.m. — 5600 block of GMD.

Property Found: A man turned in a wallet he found with an Indiana learner’s permit, school ID, debit cards and several other items. Police turned in the wallet to an evidence technician for safe keeping.

Suspended license
12:13 p.m. — Intersection of Gulf of Mexico Drive and General Harris Street.

Traffic: License cameras notified dispatch that the owner of a vehicle that entered the Key had a suspended driver’s license. The driver said she did not know her license was suspended and produced a receipt showing that she renewed her insurance in December, nine days after her license was suspended. Police confiscated the woman’s license and issued her a citation for driving with a suspended license without knowledge.

March 22
No parking
8:19 a.m. — 700 block of St. Judes Drive N.

Trespassing: Police responded to a trespassing call and saw an unoccupied car on the lot. A couple told police a man was on the property but got on a boat with a resident who lives down the street. A woman at that home said that her friend parked his car in the vacant lot to go out on their boat. Police told the woman that the property owners can have the vehicle towed off their property. The woman said she would call her husband to have him move the boat.

The real deal
11:24 a.m. — Intersection of Gulf of Mexico Drive and North Shore Road.
Trespassing: A man who was walking between heavy machinery near Beer Can Island told police he thought it was not a big deal to take a shortcut, even though he saw the signs that state it’s a felony to trespass in the area. Police told him he would go to jail if he trespasses in the area again.

Ask and you shall receive
3:28 p.m. — 100 block of Broadway.

Traffic Violation: A man told police he had a valid license that he left at home after police stopped him because his tag registration showed the registered owner of the vehicle he was driving had a suspended license. He asked police what right they had to stop him and refused to give any information, then asked police to arrest him and take him to jail. Police complied with his request and handcuffed him, and he continued his verbal barrage. His wife said she did not know if his license was suspended but asked police not to arrest her husband because their small child was with them, and she is pregnant. Police released the man with a notice to appear in court.

Get out of the driver’s seat
7:31 p.m. — 2700 block of GMD.

Traffic: A man told police he was not the owner of the vehicle he was driving and did not have a valid license. Police discovered that he was the vehicle’s owner and had several previous suspensions. Police gave him a criminal citation and told him he would be arrested as a felony habitual traffic offender if he is caught driving in the future. His vehicle was released to a licensed driver.