Welfare check turns out to be resident dodging a 'bad friend'

Friday, Oct. 25

Post office problems 

1:02 p.m., 500 block of Bay Isles Rd. 

Disturbance: An officer responded to a reported disturbance in which a man refused to leave the Longboat Key post office. When the officer arrived at the post office, he observed the man yelling at post office staff members, and the officer asked him to step outside to talk. The man said he had recently lost everything except for some paintings in the hurricanes, and now he wanted to ship the paintings to his house up north. According to the man, a post office staff member said the paintings were too large to ship, and they would not accept them. The man said he argued back and explained he measured the paintings to ensure they were acceptable, but the post office staff member pushed the boxes back at him, which struck him in the stomach. 

The post office staff member said he didn’t want to make a big deal out of this, but wanted the man to leave the post office. The officer then spoke with the painting owner again, and he agreed to leave the building. 

Suspiciously slow

8:34 p.m., 4500 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive

Vehicle Stop: While on patrol, an officer observed a vehicle traveling around 26-30 mph in a 45 mph zone and was impeding traffic. The officer stopped the vehicle and advised the driver of the reason behind the stop. When the officer asked for the driver’s license and registration, the driver handed the officer a foreign passport and admitted to never having a valid driver’s license. He said he was heading to a residence on Longboat Key to provide a construction quote. The officer issued the driver a criminal citation and other traffic citations and told the driver he could not drive the vehicle any further. 

Saturday, Oct. 26

Sitting suspiciously in the sedan

7:41 p.m., 500 block of Rountree Drive

Suspicious Person: Dispatch sent an officer to investigate a report of four suspicious people sitting in a tan sedan. Upon arrival, the officer found the vehicle in question and saw three men sitting in the vehicle with the doors open. The officer approached the men and asked what they were up to, and they said they were part of a construction crew currently working on the residence where they were parked. No criminal activity was observed, and the officer let the men be. 

Monday, Oct. 27

Can’t fish there

8:47 p.m., 7200 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive

Suspicious Person: A complainant asked for police to check out two men fishing on the Longboat Pass Bridge. When the responding officer arrived at the scene, he saw the two men fishing and requested they move from the area where they were sitting, to which they complied. 

Wednesday, Oct. 30

Suspicious scrapper

4:50 a.m., 3500 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive

Suspicious Incident: While on routine patrol, an officer observed a man attempting to load an appliance into his vehicle. The appliance had been left on the side of GMD for trash pickup. The officer approached the man and advised him that scrapping along GMD was against town ordinances, and he was given a written warning before leaving the scene. 

Letting the car dry out

10:08 a.m., 4300 block of Falmouth Drive

Suspicious Vehicle: Dispatch sent an officer to investigate a suspicious vehicle that was reported to be sitting in a parking lot with the hood and doors open. At the scene, the responding officer observed the vehicle and saw that it had sustained considerable flooding from the hurricane. In the back seat area were containers used to remove moisture, and the officer confirmed that the registered owner lives in the complex where it was parked. 

Resident OK, just ignoring 

12:24 p.m., 600 block of Cedars Court

Welfare Check: A Longboat Key officer responded to a caller’s request for a welfare check on a resident whom she had not heard from since before the hurricanes. The officer knocked on the resident’s door but received no response. Then, the officer spoke with a neighbor who said she had not seen the resident recently, but a maintenance worker was in the unit earlier in the day and didn’t report anything suspicious. Staff at the property said they heard the homeowner left to go back north and was leaving Longboat Key for good due to the recent destruction that her home and vehicle suffered from the hurricanes. The officer tried calling the homeowner but received no response. When the officer called the complainant back and updated her on the investigation so far, she said she was happy with the officer’s work, but still concerned for her friend (the homeowner). 

As the officer was leaving the area, he called the homeowner again and she answered the call. She said she was purposely avoiding the complainant because the complainant previously refused to give the homeowner a ride after the hurricanes. After this, the homeowner said she felt the complainant was a bad friend and did not want any contact with her.