Cops Corner

Date: May 7, 2009
by: The Observer Staff

April 28: Pearly gates damaged 7 p.m. — 400 block of South Tamiami Trail. Criminal Mischief. A church employee reported the swinging gates at the church’s rear entrance were damaged. It appears a vehicle ran into the gates, knocked them off the hinges and ran over them. It’s going to cost the church $2,000 to replace the gates.

April 24
Run for the border
6:15 a.m. — 800 block of South Tamiami Trail. Theft. Complainant told police he had been forced to go to a fast-food restaurant and take money out of the safe. The restaurant chain’s district manager said nearly $3,600 was missing from the safe. The manager looked at the surveillance tape and saw the complainant entering the store at 6:15 a.m. and leaving two minutes later. The complainant had to disable the alarm to get into the store. The complainant was questioned, and officers noticed several inconsistencies in his story. Police would not reveal if the complainant worked at the restaurant.

April 25
Cashier impersonator
10 a.m. — 1400 block of Fruitville Road. Petit Theft. A thrift-store manager noticed $115 missing from the cash register and reviewed the surveillance tape to see if she could discover who took the money. The videotape showed a woman looking left and right to see if anyone was watching and then opened the register and took the cash. If the thief had also looked up, she might have seen the surveillance camera that captured a clear image of her.

April 26
Shhhh, I’m working undercover
11 a.m. — 1300 South Tamiami Trail. Suspicious Person. A man approached a woman in a supermarket parking lot and said he was a private investigator and needed a ride to Anna Maria Island. The woman became suspicious and called police. Officers were unable to find the man, who was described as wearing “beachy” clothes.

Take a flying leap
2:03 p.m. — 1000 block of Siesta Drive. Four men were seen jumping off a bridge into the water. They’d get out of the water, run down the street and jump again. So, when their mothers ask them if their friends told them to jump off a bridge would they do it, they can answer “yes.”

Hope that beer was worth it
9:05 p.m. — 900 block of Beach Road. Open Container. A man was walking through a parking lot, carrying a can of beer like it was no big deal. So, sheriff’s deputies cited him for an open container like it was no big deal.

April 27
Water … need … water
10:46 a.m. — 1500 block of Selby Lane. Suspicious Person. A woman noticed a bicycle being pushed over an apartment complex’s wall. A young man then climbed over the wall with a second bicycle, and another young man walked up her driveway and asked for water. She told him there was no water where he was headed, and he walked away.