Cops Corner: Pelican Press

July 4
EXPLOSIVE ESTRANGEMENT
9:30 p.m. — 900 block of Beach Road. Battery. During the Fourth of July fireworks on the Siesta public beach, a man jumped on another man’s back and began choking him. The second man’s children separated him and the attacker, who slowly walked away and said he was coming for the victim. Police learned that the suspect was upset that his ex-wife was dating the victim.

Knucklehead
10:10 p.m. — 900 block of Beach Road. Possession of Metallic Knuckles. A deputy patrolling Siesta Key beach during the Fourth of July celebration smelled marijuana near a young man and asked for his identification. When he could not produce a license, the officer asked if he had any illegal objects with him. The teenager pulled a pipe, generally associated with drug use, out of his pocket and told the deputy he had brass knuckles wrapped in his T-shirt.

Long ride home
10:35 p.m. — 900 block of Beach Road. Petite Theft. While police were patrolling the Siesta Key Beach pavilion, a man ran up and said there were two men acting suspiciously near the bathrooms. As an officer approached the area, one of the men matching the subject’s description began wheeling a blue bicycle into the parking lot. Another man ran up to the area and told the deputy the bicycle belonged to him. The man holding the bike, who was from Port Charlotte, told police he was merely moving the bicycle on the orders of another individual. Officers placed him under arrest.

Caught cup-handed
8:14 p.m. — 900 block of Beach Road. Possession of Alcoholic Beverage by an Underage Person. During parking-lot surveillance before the Siesta Key fireworks show, a deputy spotted three men, who appeared to be underage, walking with a 32-ounce Styrofoam cup. The officer reported that the cup was generally used to conceal alcoholic beverages, and when he approached the group the individual holding the cup handed it to another man. The deputy asked to smell its contents and detected a strong scent of alcohol. The man said the drink was a rum and Coke before the officer transported him to county jail.

Beach brawl
6 p.m. — 900 block of Beach Road. Battery. A combatant involved in a fight behind the green lifeguard stand on Siesta Key Beach head-butted another fighter, who sought medical attention immediately after the altercation. He received stitches above his left eye and filed a report with the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office after identifying the head-butter.

Hostile takeover
8:15 — 900 block of Beach Road. Disorderly Intoxication. Police responded to a report of a couple arguing on the beach and found a man with blood on his face yelling at his girlfriend. An officer attempted to calm the man, but he became increasingly hostile toward the law-enforcement officer and toward his girlfriend. The deputy placed handcuffs on the man after he started using obscenities.

Water under the bridge
7:39 p.m. — 1500 block of Midnight Cove. Battery. A woman told police her boyfriend threw a water bottle at her after they got into an argument before the fireworks show on Siesta Key Beach. While reporting the incident, the woman became disorderly and told officers she would not sign a statement. She then walked away from the two deputies, and no further disturbance occurred.

Not old enough to party
8 p.m. — 900 block of Beach Road. Possession of Alcoholic Beverage by an Underage Person. An officer stopped a man walking through the Siesta Key beach parking lot with a case of beer and asked for his identification, noting that he looked to be younger than 21. The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a driver’s license but abruptly shoved it back into his jeans and admitted to the deputy that he was 18. When an officer searched the teenager he found a driver’s license belonging to another individual, which the suspect said he found and used to buy alcohol. The teen was arrested, and the 18-pack was placed in police custody.

No fiesta on siesta
6:37 p.m. — 900 block of Beach Road. Open Container. Police ticketed a man for having an open Corona beer on Siesta Key Beach.