Cops Corner: Pelican Press

July 22
Horror story
5:30 p.m. — 900 Beach Road. Missing Person. A woman dropped off her daughters, 17 and 13, at the beach. She called the 13-year-old a few hours later to check on the pair, and the younger daughter said her sister had taken off with an older man. She said two men, 29 and 26, had struck up a conversation with them. The 13-year-old became uncomfortable when the 29-year-old started to flirt with her. She left the immediate area, but saw her older sister kissing the two men. Soon an argument broke out between the men, and the older sister left the beach with the 26-year-old. Deputies were able to track the older girl’s phone to an airport hotel, where the man had left her. She denied any improper contact with the man.

July 24
Fast track to Hades
4:15 p.m. — 6700 block of Sarasea Circle. Battery. A tourist was sitting on a hotel porch reading her Bible when a teenager she did not know walked up behind her, reached around her shoulder and grabbed her breast. He then ran away. The woman was not going to take that sitting down. She chased him, but soon lost sight of him. She believed he was between 16 and 18 years of age.

July 25
Strangers in the night
8:30 a.m. — 5900 block of Midnight Pass Road. Grand Theft. A middle-age woman and her sister were vacationing on Siesta Key. They met a young man who was wandering around their rental condo and struck up a conversation with him. The three downed three bottles of champagne together and went back to the sisters’ condo. About 2 a.m., the woman went to bed, while her sister stayed up with their new friend. The next morning, the woman discovered that her $15,000 watch and a $350 bracelet were missing. The sister said she never went to sleep, but she didn’t notice the young man steal the items. She admitted she was pretty drunk, though. The women did not remember the man’s name.

More than one headache
3 p.m. — 6400 block of Midnight Pass Road. Grand Theft. A man visiting Crescent Beach parked his $700 bike on the beach while he went swimming. He left his backpack with the bike; the backpack contained his wallet, $300 in cash, his Social Security card, shoes and a bottle of oxycodone. When he was in the water, a wave knocked him in the back of the head. He stumbled back to the beach and fell unconscious. He was transported to the hospital, but his bike and backpack remained on the beach. When he was released three days later, his belongings were gone.

Lock your doors
3:30 p.m. — 900 block of Beach Road. Vehicle Burglary. Three women vacationing from out-of-state left their purses in their unlocked car in the public beach parking lot. They were away from the car for only 45 minutes, but that was enough time for someone to steal the three purses. A man who was part of their party was in a car right next to the women’s car at the time, but he was asleep and didn’t hear anything.

July 27
Tough luck
12:30 a.m. — 5200 block of Ocean Boulevard. Impaired Person. Complainant found a man facedown on the sidewalk, obviously so intoxicated that he had passed out. The complainant tried to rouse the man and get him a cab, but the man was uncooperative. Bad move. The complainant called the Sheriff’s Office instead. The man was so drunk he was unable to give a deputy the name of a family member or friend to retrieve him. The deputy took him to an alcohol-treatment center, but it had no available beds. Bad luck. He was taken to jail instead. He should have accepted the complainant’s help.