Cops Corner: Drunk man tries to get money from ATM, ends up fighting brother-in-law

Oct. 31

THEFT CAN BE A GAMBLE

2500 Whitfield Avenue, Sarasota

Grand theft: The Sheriff's Office was contacted by a convenience store, which had found an employee had stolen $1,532 worth of lottery tickets over several weeks. The store recovered only $200 worth of tickets from the woman, who was arrested by deputies and taken to jail. 

Nov. 2

VANISHING FUNDS NO FUN

8320 Lockwood Ridge Road, Sarasota

Information only: A man told the Sheriff's Office he had purchased a gift card from a department store, and showed a receipt that noted he had put $200 in cash and $340 from his debit card on the gift card at appoximately 2 p.m. At 8 p.m. the next day, he attempted to use the gift card and it showed no balance. When he checked the balance at customer service at the department store, it showed that the card was used at a department store in Norwalk, Conn., for the entire amount. The man said he didn't give the card number to anyone and he had no idea how someone in another state used the card. A sworn affidavit was obtained and the receipts and gift card were placed into property and evidence.

Nov. 4

BANK CUSTOMER IS STUCK

7300 block of 52nd Place East, Bradenton

Information only: While on patrol, a Sheriff's Office deputy was driving though a bank parking lot and observed a male standing beside the ATM machine. The man motioned for the deputy to come over. The man said the ATM had taken his card and immediately had shown it was then out of order. The deputy helped the man find a customer service number to alert them his card was stuck in the machine. The man asked the deputy to document the issue. He was told he should be able to get his card back when the banks opens.

Nov. 5

FAMILY GET TOGETHER AT ATM

1755 Lakewood Ranch Boulevard, Bradenton

Information only: The Sheriff's Office was contacted because a man who was intoxicated was trying to retrieve money from a bank ATM. The man's brother-in-law approached him but the drunk man asked him not to come closer. The brother-in-law then pushed the drunk man and a shoving match ensued and eventually was stopped by the bank's employees. The brother-in-law took the man's ATM card at the direction of the man's wife. The incident was caught on surveillance video, and the deputy obtained a copy. The video was placed into property and evidence. Due to the victim`s intoxication level, he went back and forth on whether to file charges for his brother-in-law shoving him.

Nov. 8

BEWARE RICHARD BRUNO

6300 block of Green Oak Circle, Bradenton

Fraud: A woman called the Sheriff's Office because she had received several calls from a male identifying himself as Ricard Bruno from Microsoft. The man called from the number  (757) 276-8687 on multiple occasions daily and convinced the woman that her computer had been hacked and all her personal information had been compromised. He convinced the woman to purchase gift cards from a department store and then to give him the account information. She believed the money was going toward securing her information. She has lost $23,000.