Cops Corner: East County

The following information was gathered from incident and arrest reports obtained from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. 

Nov. 9
Date night
4:59 p.m. — 2900 block of 53rd Avenue E. Petit Second Offense. A woman and her boyfriend selected several duplicate electronic items from the shelves of a department store. The boyfriend then paid for some of the items. After dropping the items off at his vehicle, the boyfriend returned to the store and gave his girlfriend the receipt.

He waited in the car while she used the receipt to return some items that were duplicates. She took the other items that were duplicates and put them in a reusable bag. She then went to the checkout and paid for food. The duo’s plot ended when the girlfriend exited the store with the concealed items in the reusable bag. The items, which totaled $144.35, were recovered and returned. The boyfriend claimed he had no knowledge of his girlfriend’s shoplifting skills.

Nov. 10
JEWEL THIEF
12:07 a.m. — 5000 block of Creekside Trail. Burglary. A suspect forcefully opened the sliding-glass door of a residence. Once inside, the suspect took jewelry and fled.

Nov. 11
Return policy
1:18 p.m. — 10500 block of Hamilton Way. Vehicle Burglary. A male driver was driving to different stores in Manatee and Sarasota counties, and at some time an unknown person entered his unlocked vehicle while it was parked. The person removed all items from the female passenger’s wallet, which was located in an unlocked glove box. The suspect returned the empty wallet to the glove box after taking $100 cash.

Employee of the month
1:50 p.m. — 24200 block of Jennings Road. Theft. A woman reported that a handyman she hired stole cash and an air compressor from her residence.

Key Items
9:44 p.m. — 6600 block of Second Avenue N.E. Burglary. Televisions and keys were stolen from a residence. The stolen items have a total value of $681.

Nov. 12
No need to knock
5:44 a.m. — 2700 block of 29th Avenue E. Burglary. The manager of a store reported that someone broke into the store by removing the rear doorknob and stole items. The manager doesn’t know who committed the crime, and there were no witnesses.

False alarm
10:05 a.m. — 5100 block of 33rd Street E. Found Property Not Stolen. An unknown passerby saw a black steel lock box on the side of the road. It was open, but had no signs of forced entry.

Nov. 14
Just window shopping
1:19 p.m. — 4600 block of 73rd Street E. Suspicious Incidents. The owner of the company was cleaning the outside windows of her home while her employee scrubbed the inside windows of the master bedroom. The homeowner walked into her bedroom and noticed the closet door was open. She saw the employee standing inside of it, staring at her jewelry collection. The employee denied taking anything, and officers found nothing missing from the closet and no jewelry in his possession. The employee, who is now on probation from his company, said he was only in the closet to look for windows to clean.