Cops Corner: Sarasota 10.26.17

Oct. 17

KEY SPREE
6:30 p.m. — 100 block of North Tamiami Trail
Property damage: A man reported that, sometime during the day, someone scratched his car, which he left in a covered parking lot. The man said he did not intend to file a report until he found out four other cars in the same lot got keyed two days later. An officer noted a large scratch down the driver’s side of the man’s car. The officer estimated the cost to repair the scratch would be $500.  

Oct. 19

SCRATCH THE SURFACE
8:45 a.m. — 1100 block of Boulevard of the Arts
Property damage: An officer responded to a report regarding an attempted burglary at a building. A representative for the building said an unknown person scratched a sliding glass door sometime overnight. Nobody noticed the damage until the glass had been cleaned. The representative thought someone might have tried to gain entry with a glass cutter. The officer noted that the scratch was faint, but could be felt with a fingernail. There were no other signs of forced entry anywhere else. The officer did not believe the scratch was an attempt to gain entry, because there were rocks and other objects around that could have been used to break the glass. The representative was not sure if the glass could be replaced, but the officer guessed the cost would be around $800.

Oct. 20

WOOK-IE MISTAKE
9 a.m. — 1500 block of State Street
Property damage: An employee at a parking garage reported vandalism he discovered when he arrived at work in the morning. He noticed some stickers had been put on one of the fire extinguishers. Someone had written “Wooks” on the stickers. The employee also noticed “Wooks” had been scratched into the doors of both elevators on the property. The estimated cost of the damage was $1,000. The employee said he would check the garage’s security footage to see if cameras had captured any of the vandalism. 

CHECKED OUT
1:42 p.m. — 3500 block of Fruitville Road
Financial crime: A man went to a convenience store and cashed a check from an auto shop for $385.47. A convenience store employee later noticed the check was not real. He called the auto shop and spoke to the owner, who said the man who cashed the check is a former employee who has not worked there for more than two years. The man put his driver’s license number and telephone number on the check. An officer contacted the man, who said he was driving to Tampa but would be available to talk to the officer the next day.