Cops Corner: Pelican Press

Aug. 25
No fast getaway
2:30 p.m. — 555 Beach Road. Petit Theft. A person called the Sheriff’s Office to report someone had taken his bicycle from the front driveway of his residence. He said it must have been stolen about 11:30 that morning. The bike was not locked, the caller said. It was blue and had an estimated value of $290. If the bike had been red, we’d have wondered if Pee Wee Herman was off again on another big adventure.

Aug. 29
Dude, where’s my bike?
3:21 a.m. — 948 Beach Road. Lost/Found Property. Given those reports of full parking lots at Siesta Key Public Beach, someone apparently figured the best way to be sure of finding a spot was to take a bicycle there. That same someone, though, neglected to take the bike home. The bike has become part of the Sheriff’s Office’s unclaimed property collection.

Not necessarily a shoe-in
8:30 a.m. — 8016 Midnight Pass Road. Residential Burglary. The resident told a deputy that when he had stepped outside that morning, he had noticed one of his sliding-glass doors had been smashed. He was away from home from 4 to 8:30 p.m. the previous day, he said, so he thought the incident had happened then. The deputy reported that it appeared someone had kicked through the glass. The impact was about 18 inches from the ground, and was close to the door’s locking mechanism. Although the hole was big enough for a hand to reach in, it was not wide enough for someone to enter the residence. The door was still locked and unopened. Fortunately for the resident, the burglar did not wear a larger shoe size.

Sept. 1
It takes two to subdue
12:45 a.m. — Ocean Boulevard. Battery On A Law Enforcement Officer. While on foot patrol in the Village, deputies observed a woman walking down the middle of Ocean Boulevard, in front of the Beach Club, yelling at people. When the deputies approached her to see if she needed help, she appeared intoxicated. She took a swing at one man walking down the street and screamed at him. When the deputies asked her to stop, she repeatedly told them to “$#&@ &$$.” When she refused to stop screaming, the deputies grabbed her arms. She pulled away from them and began swinging her arms, attempting to hit the deputies with her open hands. Finally, one deputy was able to force her right hand behind her back and get a handcuff on her, and the other deputy completed the cuffing. But the woman twisted around and pulled her left hand out of the cuff and then attempted to run. One deputy tackled her, got the handcuff back on her and started to escort her to the patrol car. She began kicking both deputies, hitting one of them in the leg and knocking the other deputy’s phone off his belt; the phone broke in half when it hit the ground. Finally, they forced her into the car and restrained her legs.