Cops Corner

Feb. 27
Home, sweet, home
6:12 p.m. — 1700 block of Shoreland Drive. Suspicious Person. A woman was in her yard planting flowers, when a man rode up her driveway on his bike. She recognized him, because he had done yard work for her in the past. The man asked her who lived at the home. She said that it was none of his business who lived there. That comment started a verbal sparring match. The woman went inside to call police, but when she walked back outside, the man was gone.

Feb. 28
Tired of it
4 p.m. — 1900 block of South Osprey Avenue. Suspicious Incident. Complainant said when he returned to his car in a parking lot, he noticed someone had let the air out of its right front tire. The man believes an elderly man, who likes to watch the parking lot, is to blame.

March 1
Good deed is punished
9:36 a.m. — 8400 block of South Tamiami Trail. Theft. A woman in a supermarket noticed an item had fallen to the ground. Instead of just walking past it, she decided to pick it up and place it back on the shelf. She turned away briefly from her cart only long enough to pick up the item. But, in that time, a young man stole her purse from the cart. Deputies discovered that the victim’s credit card was used a short time later at a gas station to buy cigarettes, lottery tickets and Pepsi. The gas station clerk said it was a young woman who forged the victim’s signature during the transaction. The card was also used to buy items at a discount store.

Cash and carry
4:04 p.m. — 3500 block of South Tamiami Trail. Grand Theft. A department store employee was busted for stealing more than $1,000 from several cash registers. The head of security started tracking the woman’s cash shortages in November. From that time, the employee credited her own store credit card with $630, without putting any money into her register. She also admitted to taking $200 in cash directly from a register and activating more than $200 in store gift cards.

Adaptation
10:21 p.m. — Beneva Road and Riviera Road. Suspicious Incident. A deputy was behind a car and noticed it had an expired registration. He turned on his cruiser’s emergency lights. The driver slowed down but did not stop. As the deputy continued to follow, the driver could be seen making furtive movements toward the passenger floorboard area. The driver finally pulled over and said he didn’t stop immediately, because he wasn’t sure if it was a real sheriff’s deputy behind him. He said it was possible that someone had stolen a deputy’s car. The deputy searched the car but found no weapons or drugs. The driver told the deputy that he had been pulled over “enough times that I have adapted and will never get caught.”

March 2
Scooby snack
3:34 a.m. — 2300 block of Margaret Street. Animal Nuisance. A police officer responded to a report of two loose dogs. When she arrived, she saw the two dogs in a front yard. A woman then poked her head out of her front door and said the dogs lived a few doors down. When the woman appeared, the dogs started growling and barking at her. She and her husband were trapped in their home, and the husband had to go to work. The officer was going to contact the dogs’ owner, but the dogs began growling at her car door. Another officer arrived, gave the dogs a snack and took them back to their fenced yard.