Cops Corner: Sarasota 03.24.16

March 20

DON’T SPRAY IT
2:32 p.m. — 100 block of Central Avenue
Property Damage: A property manager said a building he oversees has been subject to repeated incidents of vandalism over the previous two weeks. The graffiti appeared to be a frowning face with ‘X’s for eyes. The drawing also included a large money sign and the initials UK. The property manager was unable to clean the paint off the three vandalized items, which carried a combined value of $360.

March 21

FREE OF CHARGE
4:40 a.m. — 1900 block of Fruitville Road
Dispute: After taking a taxi from Palmetto to Sarasota, a man called the police. When an officer arrived, the man said he knew he didn’t have any money to pay the fare when he took the cab, and that he called the police because he wanted to go to jail. The taxi driver said the man owed him $50, but he was not worried about the fare and did not want to press any criminal charges. The driver provided a written statement saying he did not want to prosecute the man. The man then left the area, upset that he didn’t go to jail.

FAREWELL TRANSMISSION
11:10 a.m. — 2000 block of Bee Ridge Road
Harassment/Stalking: The manager of a car care facility said a former customer had been making threatening phone calls daily for three weeks. The customer had problems with the transmission they had serviced for him, and complained that he was going to have to replace the transmission because it had not been fixed correctly. The manager said the business had not serviced the car since 2014, and that the service was now out of warranty.

Since the first meeting, the customer called the facility several times every day, making threats to disrupt the business. The customer made threats to damage employees’ vehicles, as well. On this day, the customer called 11 times in less than an hour, tying up phone lines and occupying employees’ times. The manager said the customer specifically threatened to damage his vehicle, ignoring instructions to address the issue to the business’ corporate office instead. An officer made contact with the customer, warning him that he would be charged accordingly if he continued to call the business. The customer said the only reason he was calling so much that day was because they directed his calls to the fax machine and were no longer responding to him.