Cops Corner: Longboat Key 3.19.2015

March 5
Sexual predator
7:15 a.m. — 300 block of North Shore Road.

Suspicious Person: License cameras notified police that a vehicle registered to a sexual predator had entered the Key. Police spoke with the man and confirmed his identity, then let him go back to work.

Gulf course
9:17 a.m. — 3700 block of GMD. 

Code Enforcement: Police received a call about people hitting Gulf balls into the Gulf from the beach. Police found a man holding a driver and a woman. The man said he hit a few balls into the water but was done. Police warned him that town ordinance prohibits hitting balls into the water.

Emergency assistance
3:16 p.m. — 4300 block of GMD.

Rescue: Police were dispatched to a condo swimming pool about a man who was unresponsive but breathing. Other residents had pulled the man out of the pool after he went under water and didn’t surface. Firefighter/paramedics transported him to a hospital.

Lost wallet
4:04 p.m. — 1200 block of GMD.

Lost/Missing Property: A man said he had his wallet the night before, when he attended a function at a place of worship, but was now missing the wallet. His wife searched the property and could not find it, nor could anyone at the place of worship.

Off the hook
8:28 p.m. — Longboat Pass Bridge.

Fishing:  A man was fishing from the draw span part of the Longboat Pass Bridge, which signs state is prohibited. Police gave him a written warning.

Dog fight
6:01 p.m. — 3000 block of Grand Bay Blvd.

Civil Disturbance: A woman dropped off her dog, Trixie, to be groomed. The groomer started feeling ill and transported Trixie to a Sarasota location but told the woman she would have Trixie home by 5:30 p.m. The woman called police because she worried the groomer wouldn’t bring Trixie back. She later found a text message from the groomer telling her to stop harassing her and stating that she would meet the owner at the guard gate and would not charge for the service. A subsequent text stated that she left Trixie and a bag of treats with the guard. Police determined that no theft occurred and spoke to the groomer the next day after she said she received harassing texts from the woman. The groomer played a voicemail from the woman in which she agreed to bring the dog back by 5:30 p.m., but the groomer got stuck in traffic. Police told the woman not to contact the groomer.

March 6
The heat is on
12:38 a.m. — 4300 block of Falmouth Drive.

Fire: A deputy fire chief told police that two fires at a condominium were suspicious, and he could not provide a cause. The fire awakened several residents, but no one saw anything suspicious. Police planned to ask for surveillance video from the property.

Flames of passion
1:13 a.m. — 3800 block of GMD.

Traffic Violation: A Bradenton Beach officer stopped a vehicle without its lights on while he assisted at the scene of a suspicious fire on the Key. The two men in the vehicle said they pulled into a beach access parking lot and had sex inside their vehicle but denied having any involvement in the fire. The officer found two open containers of beer, a used condom, a pair of handcuffs and a pair of blue panties — but no evidence they were involved with the fire. The driver received a citation for his suspended driver’s license; both men received citations for open containers.

False alarm
10:49 a.m. — 500 block of Bowsprit Lane.

Burglar Alarm: A landscaping worker accidentally set off an alarm while working at a house.

Break and take
3:14 p.m. — 5500 block of GMD.

Larceny From Vehicle: A woman left her purse on the passenger side floor of a vehicle while she was at a park. She returned and found someone had broken the passenger side window and stolen her wallet. Police were unable to locate suspects.

No thanks
3:38 p.m. — Intersection of Gulf of Mexico Drive and Bay View Drive. Rescue: A woman felt light-headed after falling from her bicycle. She refused to be transported to a hospital despite firefighter/paramedics’ recommendations. 

Stolen sticker
5:12 p.m. — 1900 block of Harbourside Drive.

Larceny From Vehicle: A woman’s registration decal was stolen from her vehicle. She realized it was missing when she received a parking ticket in Sarasota.

Safe and sound
8:38 p.m. — 3300 block of GMD.

Security Check: Police entered a home through an open door after its alarm went off and determined there was no forced entry. Police secured the door, and dispatch notified the homeowner.

March 7
Owner gone astray

10:03 a.m. — 4000 block of GMD. Animal. A man tried to put his unleashed dog back in his vehicle when police made contact with him. Police told the man the town requires dogs to stay on their leashes and wrote him a warning for the violation.

March 8
Under lock and key
12:07 a.m. — 4100 block of GMD.

Burglary: The owner of a luxury-car service business discovered that keys to 12 vehicles were missing from a storage unit from the business’ garage. The man believes that someone took his keys to interrupt his business. He said they were his only keys, and he would not be able to obtain replacements until the following week. He believes the suspect could be a former employee who was fired last year and now works for another limousine company. Dispatch was attempting to verify whether a vehicle from the man’s company was on the Key at the time of the theft. The man said he would block the garage entrance so no vehicles could be removed.

Park prohibition
2:20 p.m. — 100 block of GMD. 

Code Enforcement: Police noticed three people were on a town dock that had been closed due to a previous. They were also drinking alcoholic beverages. The group told police that they didn’t notice the signs, and they didn’t know alcohol was prohibited in town parks without a permit.

Dude, where’s my bicycle?
3:09 p.m. — 7000 block of GMD. 

Property Found: A man noticed a mountain bike in the bushes that appeared new. Police took the vehicle to the station for safe-keeping.

Cause for concern
6:38 p.m. — 2200 block of Harbour Court Drive. 

Rescue: Firefighter/paramedics responded after a man pulled out his catheter and were concerned because of the man’s psychiatric issues. The man refused to go to the hospital.

10:07 p.m. — 6900 block of GMD.

Fraud: A man used his credit card at a gas station and later realized he left the card in the slot at the pump. He realized it was missing when he went to pay for his dinner. He called his bank and learned the card had been used at least four times for purchases totaling nearly $400. 

March 11
Seeds of suspicion
11:06 a.m. — 5400 block of GMD.

Fraud: A woman entered an acquaintance’s business, but the owner said she could not perform her service at that time and gave her an appointment. The woman discovered her wallet missing later that day and found that someone had made a $6,000 purchase by phone at a Sarasota business. She and the business owner went out to dinner the next day, and she found her wallet with all of its contents in a potted plant while the business owner was at her home. She isn’t sure, but she thinks she possibly left the wallet at the business, and the owner could have taken the wallet and then left it in the potted plant.

Damage is done
1:17 p.m. — 5800 block of GMD.

Property Damage: A field worker for a cable company discovered that a junction box was damaged, possibly from a vehicle striking it. Police did not find vehicle skid marks or pieces.

Taxing tale
1:18 p.m. — 6800 block of Longboat Drive South. 

Fraud: A man received a letter stating that the IRS needs more information for his 2014 tax return. The man had not yet filed a return, so he contacted the IRS office, which referred him to the Social Security office, which gave him information about contacting the Federal Trade Commission and credit bureaus.

Taking sidings
1:29 p.m. — 3700 block of GMD.

Civil Disturbance: A woman returned to her home in January and learned from her neighbor that while he was working on a golf cart adjacent to her home, the cart lurched forward out of control and damaged her mobile home. The neighbor repaired the damage with a sheet metal patch and screws and painted it the same color as the trailer, but the style of skirting for the bottom of the home was no longer in production. The woman said she did not like the patch because it does not match the siding pattern. The neighbor’s wife told her another repair would cost $50, and the patch her husband put on was sufficient. The woman called her insurance company, which told her to file a police report.