Restaurant worker dispatch for possible battery

Friday, Feb. 7

Phone destroyed as punishment

8:09 a.m., 3000 block of North Links Avenue

Family disturbance: Upon arriving at the scene of a dispute between a mother and daughter, another officer was already speaking with the daughter, who stated her mother had taken her phone from her and broken it as a form of punishment. She also accused her mother of using physical force against her in the process of taking the phone.

The second responding officer then made contact with the mother, who advised that her daughter was in trouble at school for her defiant behavior and, prior to going to work the night before, she took her daughter’s phone. She said she had it with her the entire night and, after returning home at 7:30 the morning of the incident, discovered it missing from her purse.

That’s when the confrontation with her daughter occurred and admitted to taking the phone and destroying it as she watched.

As for the accusation of physical force, the daughter showed no evidence or injuries present. As the investigation concluded, the two agreed the daughter would stay with her aunt until cooler heads could prevail.

Saturday, Feb. 8

Roommate removal ruckus

7:30 p.m., 1400 block of 18th Street

Disturbance: Officers made contact with three men in the driveway of a residence in responding to a call about a disturbance between roommates. They advised a fourth roommate, also an adult male, had made self-harming statements, locked himself in his bedroom and was possibly armed with a knife. One of the residents said he has displayed previous similar outbursts.

The officers managed to coax the man out of his room to the front porch, where he was patted down but no knife was found. It was learned he was the one who called law enforcement, saying he was threatened with a kitchen knife by one of the other three and told to go back to his room “because he didn’t like the color of his skin.” That’s when he called 911. He advised this has been an ongoing issue between himself and the other roommates, who told officers the complainant was never threatened with a knife.

To get to the bottom of the matter, an officer spoke by phone with the landlord who mentioned the complainant — the one who claimed he was threatened — is being evicted in six days and has been acting out as a result. All parties involved agreed to cohabitate for the remainder of the evening and there would be no further issues.

Third-rate romance, high-rent rendevous?

10:56 p.m., 1300 block of Main Street

Dispute: Officers were dispatched to a downtown restaurant after a call by a staff member who was concerned about the safety of a female customer. Upon arriving, an officer reported observing a woman wearing a black baseball cap, which appeared to be an effort to conceal a black eye resulting from a prior incident. Refusing to provide information, she stated she was fine and did not understand why law enforcement was present.

The woman mentioned that the man she was with at the restaurant was withholding her phone, which was located in their hotel room, adding that she had just met him on a “date" earlier that night. Why a hotel, one not noted for inexpensive hourly rates, was involved on a first date was not noted. She said she suffered the black eye by slipping in the hotel room’s bathtub.

The officer then spoke with her male companion, who claimed he was only friends with the woman — who never provided her identity — and that he knew nothing about her black eye. At that point, he became “disgruntled” with the officers, according to the incident report, was uncooperative and refused to provide further information. He also appeared, the report, notes, to be intoxicated.

With the lack of mutual cooperation and no helpful evidence to explore, no further action was taken. Why, and for that matter how, the woman’s phone was being withheld by the man in the hotel room was not disclosed.