Cops Corner

Dec. 25
Christmas spirit
4 a.m. — 100 block of Central Avenue. Suspicious Person. A woman was flagging down cars in the area. Once a driver stopped for her, the woman would signal someone in another nearby car, presumably to help her rob the driver she stopped. When a resident confronted the woman, she ran away and yelled frantically for her backup car to pick her up. The woman was wearing a pink jumpsuit.

Like a good neighbor
9:01 p.m. — 2500 block of East Milmar Drive. Dispute. A homeowner got in an argument with the neighbor to the rear of his yard. He told police that the woman behind him was cussing at him and threatening him. When officers knocked on her door, she began to yell. But when she saw it was a police officer, she began to talk weakly and hold her side, saying she had just broken three ribs. The woman appeared to be drunk, and the officer told her to leave her neighbor alone.

Dec. 27
Thief trashes car
8:05 a.m. — 2100 block of Washington Boulevard. Stolen Vehicle and Vehicle Crash. Someone stole a car from a used car lot but didn’t realize the car had a kill switch on it, which shut down the engine. A short distance from the business, the thief was not able to control the car and drove on the shoulder into a city garbage truck and a trash can. The driver left the scene.

Out of luck
2:56 p.m. — 4800 block of South Tamiami Trail. Civil Disturbance. A gambling business, which pays slot-machine winners in Visa cards, is accused of trying to avoid paying its winning customers. A woman said she is owed more than $200 and knows another woman in the same circumstance. She said every time she asks an employee for her money, he comes up with a different excuse. Another employee told her the business has no more money or cards to distribute and is still allowing customers to play the slots, while knowing that it will not be able to pay them if they win.

Bill Gates in training
5:55 p.m. — 5600 block of Clark Road. Suspicious Person. A deputy responding to a report of a suspicious man had to determine whether the man was, in fact, suspicious. The evidence: A. He was selling laptops in a convenience-store parking lot. B. He seemed nervous and overly eager to please the deputy. C. The man supplied a Florida driver’s license number but had no actual driver’s license. He told the deputy he bought refurbished computers from a mobile-phone store for $20 to $30 and sells them for as much as he can. The deputy noted that the computers looked brand new, but the serial numbers did not come back as stolen. So, no crime was committed.

Dec. 28
Up on the rooftop
6:08 p.m. — 1000 South School Avenue. Juvenile Problem. The pilot of the sheriff’s helicopter noticed four teens on the roof of a high school and called the police department. Officers caught up with the boys on the ground and asked them what they were doing. The teens said they were performing parkour — a freestyle activity in which the participants jump and flip off of high structures. The officer didn’t think the teens were doing anything criminal and just warned them to stay off the roof.

Dec. 29
I’ll take this to go
11:30 a.m. — 1600 block of Ringling Boulevard. Theft. A sandwich-shop owner said one of his delivery bicycles was stolen. It was parked in front of the shop at the time of the theft. Two other bikes were stolen the day before, but those suspects were caught and taken to jail. The bike was valued at $600.

Forgetful parent
4:12 p.m. — 1600 block of North Lodge Drive. Suspicious Incident. A 4-month-old child was locked in a van, which was still running. The child was rescued and was unhurt.
Juggling act

5:48 p.m. — 5700 block of Bronx Avenue. Disturbance. A young woman told a sheriff’s deputy that she had recently begun a relationship with a married man. She said she had seen the man’s wife driving by her daughter’s day care facility several times, and she feels the wife may pose a danger. Later that day, the deputy was called to a disturbance at a home, which turned out to be the married couple’s home. The husband and wife were arguing over the fact that he was having an affair. The deputy told the husband to find a solution quickly, so that the sheriff’s office was not called to intervene on a daily basis.

Jan. 1
Cruise control
12:01 a.m. — 3900 block of Clark Road. Grand Theft. The former office manager at a medical business is accused of using a company credit card for his personal use. The man allegedly made $19,000 worth of personal purchases, including a cruise, and he hired his daughter to do some of the billing. When the business owner told the man to fire his daughter and take her off the payroll books, he never did. He continued to pay her under the table. The daughter is refusing to return a company computer that has confidential patient information on it.