Cops Corner 07.15.10

June 29
Nude sunbathing
9:57 a.m. — 1700 block of Ken Thompson Parkway. Suspicious Person. A man was seen lying on the boardwalk sans clothing. The complainant said he might be asleep.

Crash course needed
10:19 a.m. — 1900 block of Fruitville Road. Petit Theft. A man walked into a drug store, stole $140 out of the cash register and ran out of the store. The store manager who reported the incident said the crime actually took place nine days earlier, but it was not reported until now, because the other manager did not know how to operate the video-surveillance equipment. The equipment was working and captured images of the theft. Unfortunately, he got a nine-day head start on detectives.

No entertainment tonight
2:01 p.m. — 2900 block of Bay Street. Civil Problem. A man said he bought two tickets over the Internet to Universal Studios, in Orlando, for $80 less than face value. The sellers, a man and woman, dropped the tickets off at the buyer’s house. The man and his wife then went to Universal Studios, but the tickets were not valid. The man said the sellers had four other ads on the same website selling theme-park tickets.

June 30
All bark, no bite
9:14 a.m. — 100 block of Cocoanut Avenue. Suspicious Person. A utility worker was reading meters, when a man walked up to him and asked for $1. The worker told him he didn’t have any money, and the man threatened him, saying, “If you don’t give me $1, I’ll kick your &!$.” The worker pulled out his pepper spray, which he carries to protect himself against aggressive dogs, and again told the man he did not have any money. The man turned around and walked away.

June 30
Rare salesman
3:15 p.m. — 1600 block of Wisconsin Lane. Suspicious Person. A woman told police a man selling steaks door-to-door approached her home. His sales pitch was aggressive. The woman told him that there had been a series of burglaries in her neighborhood, and police had told residents to report any strangers in the area. That seemed to agitate the salesman, but he left. A door-to-door steak salesman? Now that is a rare occurence.

Low-tech escape
3:41 p.m. — 300 block of John Ringling Boulevard. Welfare Check. An officer was called to the scene of a woman trapped in a car. She was in the back seat of her rental car and was crying. The car’s electronics had apparently malfunctioned. The officer told her she could manually unlock the door, and she did. She was unharmed.

Unsolved mystery
6:34 p.m. — 2600 block of South Tamiami Trail. Suspicious Incident. A cleaning crew found a 4-foot-long plastic bag wrapped in a pink bed sheet. “It was very smelly, and there were lots of flies,” the crew reported. No word on what was inside the bag.

Mac attack
6:15 p.m. — 400 block of Burns Court. Attempted Theft. A delivery driver was unloading a shipment into a restaurant. During one of the trips to his truck, he saw a man lean into his truck, grab a laptop computer and take off down the street. The driver chased him and punched him in the head. The thief dropped the computer and ran away. He was not found.