Cops Corner: Pelican Press

Dec. 1
He didn’t move far enough
2:12 a.m. — Intersection of Gleason Road and Ocean Boulevard. Driving Under the Influence. A deputy on a traffic stop, with his emergency lights activated, observed a blue sedan heading northbound toward him. The deputy stepped to the rear of the vehicle he had stopped as the sedan swerved over the white line, about one foot from the mirror of the stopped vehicle, the deputy reported. “Had I not moved, there is a great possibility I would have been struck,” the deputy wrote. After he released the driver he had stopped, he pursued the sedan, stopping it at the intersection of Higel Avenue and Midnight Pass Road. When the deputy informed the 23-year-old male driver about the near miss, the driver said, “I saw you.” When the deputy then asked why the man had not tried to slow down or move his vehicle further over, the man said, “I’m sorry.” The deputy said he could smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage inside the vehicle, so he asked the man to get out of the sedan. When the deputy asked the man how much the man had had to drink, the man replied, “Two beers.” Asked how long ago he had consumed them, the man said that was about 30 minutes earlier. Because of the man’s driving and the smell of alcohol, the deputy called for back-up. Once the second deputy arrived, that deputy also observed the driver smelled of alcohol. After the driver had difficulty performing the sobriety exercises administered by the second deputy, that deputy transported the man to jail. The man blew a .094 and a .095 on two Intoxilyzer tests; the legal limit is .08.

A long walk home
8:59 a.m. — 711 Tropical Circle. Found Property. A caller reported finding a racing bicycle next to a tree on a vacant lot. The responding deputy searched the area, but he found no sign of the owner. The deputy then took possession of the bike as unclaimed property.

Cleaned up, not cleaned out
9:04 a.m. — 5400 block of Cape Leyte Drive. Burglary. A 70-year-old man reported he had left his home Nov. 15 and returned Nov. 30. The man added that the house cleaner he employs had called him Nov. 22 to report the home had been burglarized. The man had waited until his return to the Key to report the incident, he said, because he and his wife had no way of knowing for sure what was missing. However, they had allowed the cleaning person to do her usual job, destroying any evidence that might have been left at the scene. The responding deputy found someone had entered the home through the garage door by prying at the deadbolt. The front door of the residence, which is inside a small courtyard and hidden from the road by vegetation, also showed damage from a prying tool. The burglar had gone through dresser drawers, the deputy reported, and removed $50 in cash and silver jewelry.

Just the phone, thanks
1:13 p.m. — 5100 block of Ocean Boulevard. Petit Theft. A 26-year-old woman reported that her purse was taken the previous night while she was at a Village nightclub. She said her friend’s cell phone was in the purse, so she and her friend used a GPS to track it to the area of South Tuttle Avenue and Euclid Avenue, on Martin Street. The woman added that they thought the phone was in a particular house on that street, based on what the GPS indicated. A deputy went to the house, where he talked with the residents and was able to recover the cell phone. However, the woman declined to prosecute. She apparently didn’t care about her missing credit card, keys or driver’s license.

Dec. 2
caught on camera
3:28 p.m. — 5100 block of Ocean Boulevard. Petit Theft. A 28-year-old man came into the Sheriff’s Office to report that someone had stolen his wallet from his pants pocket while he was at a Village nightclub the previous night. The man said he had been out with some friends, having a good time; he did not notice his wallet missing until he was ready to leave the nightclub, about 1:30 a.m. The wallet contained his insurance, Social Security and credit cards, plus $2 in cash. When he called to cancel a service station credit card, he was told it had been used to make two purchases in Sarasota, totaling $125. The man said he had viewed the video surveillance tapes at the two locations where the card had been used, and he thought the quality was good enough that deputies may be able to get a photo of the suspect.