Cops Corner: Sarasota 3.14.19

March 8

BOOZE BUST
2:45 p.m. — 3400 block of North Tamiami Trail
Theft: An employee at a liquor store reported a customer for attempting to steal a bottle of rum. According to the employee, the customer entered the store and put the bottle of rum into his backpack. The customer then attempted to pay for a bottle of wine. The employee instructed the man to remove the bottle of rum, which he did. The customer tried to leave the store, but the employee locked him inside. While he was trying to leave, the customer pulled metal bars off the door and knocked over bottles of juice on a nearby shelf. The employee said he did not care about the door or the juice, but he wanted the customer prosecuted for attempted theft of the rum.

SKATEBOARDING MAY BE A CRIME, IN CERTAIN CONTEXTS
2:45 p.m. — 2100 block of Adams Lane
Dispute: An employee at a skate park said a man who was barred from the property was on the premises. An officer spoke to the employee, who said he got into an argument with the man. He said the man jumped the fence to enter the skate park. The man told the officer that he had been instructed not to come to the skate park, but he wanted to speak to somebody there about being allowed to use the facilities. The officer checked and found the man had not been given a trespass warning for the property. The employee told the man he would have to speak to the manager about being able to use the skate park.

March 9

CHOPPY WATERS
2:23 a.m. — 1000 block of North Tamiami Trail
Dispute: A woman said a man she hired to repair and tow her boat was refusing to give her keys back. The woman said she left her boat to go to a doctor’s appointment, and when she met with the man again, he refused to tell her where her boat was located. An officer spoke to the man, who said he was willing to tell the woman where her boat is. When he told the woman earlier, she said she did not know exactly where he was talking about, and she said she would contact authorities for more information. The man said he gave the woman the keys to her dinghy but tossed the keys to her houseboat in a parking lot. The woman said she was not concerned about those keys and would have another set made.