Cops Corner: Longboat Key

Dec. 17
Park prohibition
10:04 a.m. — 5500 block of GMD. Code Enforcement. Police warned a man who admitted to drinking alcoholic beverages in a park.

Cracking the code
11:11 a.m. — 3900 block of GMD. Alarm. A man told police he was replacing a home’s garage door due to a recent burglary and accidentally set off the alarm. He contacted a real estate company representative, who provided him with the correct code.

Dec. 19
Man with mullet
8 p.m. — 2600 block of Harbourside Drive. Civil Disturbance. A marina security officer said that several residents called him about a mullet fisherman operating his boat within the marina basin. Police told the security officer it did not appear to be illegal for the man to operate the boat in the area before 11 p.m.

Dec. 20
Bathroom break
10:54 a.m. — 6900 block of GMD. Vandalism. Police observed a shattered window at a vacant gas station and saw that someone had used the restroom, leaving behind feces. The keyholder had learned about the broken window the night before from the property’s Realtor and planned to board it up the next day.

Revenge is cold
2:24 p.m. — 4300 block of GMD. Noise. A condo resident complained that another resident was retaliating against construction noise in another unit by playing his music loudly and setting off his car alarm. When police told the man to turn his music down, the man said the construction noise was affecting his quality of life and he plays the music to drown out the sound.

Call it a scam
2:47 p.m. —2000 block of GMD. Suspicious Circumstance. A man claiming to represent the Longboat Key Sheriff’s Department called a woman, saying he was seeking donations to combat the pill problem on Longboat Key. Police reached a voicemail recording when they called the number from which the man placed the call.

Dec. 22
Call of the wild
11:38 a.m. — 600 block of Emerald Harbor Drive. Animal. A man reported an ill raccoon on his property. Police contacted two animal rescue facilities and learned that neither would respond to a sick or injured raccoon. Police told the man he could contact a rodent removal company to dispose of the raccoon.

Free ride
8:12 p.m. — 5300 block of GMD. Suspicious Person. A business owner called police about a man trying to sleep in an upstairs area of a shopping center. The man said he is homeless and planned to lie down before catching a bus to Sarasota. Police transported him to the Sarasota side of the New Pass Bridge.

Dec. 23
No rest for the weary
11:25 p.m. — 3400 block of GMD. Code Enforcement. Police found a woman asleep in her car at a beach access after hours. She told police that she was on her way home from work and became tired, so she pulled into the parking lot and fell asleep. The woman told police she would be OK to drive home.

Dec. 26
Chow hound
2:22 p.m. — 6700 block of GMD. Suspicious Circumstance. A woman reported that someone stole her dog’s dish. She heard the metal bowl hit the ground while she was watching TV as her dog slept next to her. She called police 15 minutes later. The woman kept two bowls in an upside-down skateboard with holes cut out for each dish. Police found that both her doors were unlocked and confirmed that one of two bowls was missing but were unable to locate it.

Dec. 27
Different turf
4:25 p.m. — 7000 block of GMD. Assist Other Agency. Police detained a suspect wanted for aggravated assault on Bradenton Beach after he crossed onto Longboat Key via the Longboat Pass Bridge. Bradenton Beach officers arrested the man.

Take it or leave it
9:58 p.m. — 2400 block of GMD. Domestic Disturbance. A woman got into an argument over a laptop with her son, who has been homeless since his eviction in October. At the time the woman paid his $4,000 back rent and collected his belongings, including the new laptop his stepfather had recently purchased for him. She argued with her son because he wanted to take the laptop with him. Police told the woman that she could not stop him from leaving with the laptop, even if she felt she was acting in her son’s best interest.

Dec. 30
Elevator escape
2:04 p.m. — 200 block of Sands Point Road. Rescue. Police helped free three people who were trapped in an elevator.

Nesting mode
11:24 a.m. — 400 block of GMD. Fire. Police received a call about arcing powerlines near a gas station. Police did not observe arcing, but firefighters told them a group of nesting birds was causing problems. Firefighters called FPL.

Don’t be a litterbug
2:41 p.m. — 100 block of GMD. Dumping. A man reported that a motorist threw litter onto the roadway, and he provided police with the driver’s tag number and vehicle description. Dispatch was unable to find the vehicle’s owner’s phone number.

Put it to bed
11:17 p.m. — 2400 block of GMD. Domestic Disturbance. An 18-year-old woman called 911 after her father told her and her 20-year-old sister to go to bed. The sisters had argued over turning off the TV and raised their voices, prompting their father to tell them to go to bed. Both sisters told police that they would go to bed.