Couple reports mysterious keys in their condo unit

Saturday, March 8

Parking sign confusion 

10:58 a.m., 3100 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive

Citizen Assist: A beachgoer called emergency services to report “no parking” signs at a public beach access point. Dispatch sent an officer to the scene and said the caller claimed to have parked at this location for years and never noticed this sign before. At the scene, the responding officer met with the caller and said the temporary “no parking” signs were there to prevent people from parking on the right-of-way, not the beach access lot.

Fisherman can't verify permission

2:39 p.m., 500 block of Harbor Cove Circle

Suspicious Person: Dispatch sent a Longboat Key officer to a report of trespassing individuals. The responding officer located a man fishing on a dock behind a property that was under construction. The fisherman claimed he spoke with the owner the previous day and received permission to fish there, but he did not know the owner’s name or contact information. The officer said since he could not verify the story, he should get permission again before coming back to fish. The man understood and left the area without further issue. 

Monday, March 10

Twice in one day

11:34 a.m., 500 block of Ketch Lane

Vehicle Stop: A license plate reader alerted officers to a driver operating a vehicle with a suspended driver’s license. An officer on patrol located the vehicle and confirmed through a database query the driver’s license had been suspended since December 2024. The driver said she was pulled over less than an hour earlier for driving with a suspended license without knowledge of the suspension and showed the Longboat officer the warning issued earlier. According to her, the Sarasota Police Department officer who pulled her over said she could proceed to her destination. Despite her story, the Longboat officer concluded that she continued to operate the vehicle while knowing her license was suspended, so the driver was issued a criminal citation for that reason. 

Mysteriously appearing keys 

1:17 p.m., 5400 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive

Lost/Found Property: A woman and her husband entered the Longboat Key Police Station to report found property. According to the wife, the couple left their condo on March 7 for several hours and, when they returned home, they noticed a key chain with a single key and fob in the key bowl near the front door. She said the keys did not belong to them and they had no clue how the keys got into their condo unit. There were no signs of forced entry and nothing appeared to be missing or out of place, and the door was still locked when they returned home that day. The couple spoke to condominium staff who said the keys did not belong to any employees or other residents, and the couple said no workers had been inside the unit recently. The officer took the keys for safekeeping and contacted the key fob company with the hope that any numbers on the keys or fob could identify the owner. Neither company had replied at the time this report was generated, and it is still unknown how the keys got inside the couple’s condo. 

Tuesday, March 11

Not a proper napping spot

10:30 a.m., 600 block of Spanish Drive North

Suspicious Incident: A resident walked into the Longobat Key Police Station to report she found an unknown man sleeping in her lanai. She said when she asked the man what he was doing, he said he worked for a landscaping company doing work in the area and took a nap. According to her report, the sleepy man apologized and left on his lawnmower. The resident said she did not want to press any charges and simply wanted to make a report.