Cops Corner: Pelican Press

July 18
Punchy Drunk
2:44 a.m. — 5200 block of Calle Menorca. Battery. Sheriff’s deputies were called to a home where two men were fighting. Two friends were drinking and began arguing about girls. The victim told the deputy his friend grabbed him and threw him to the ground. The suspect had a different version of events: He said he was trying to get the victim to go inside the house, so his yelling wouldn’t disturb the neighbors. The suspect said he grabbed his friend just to try to calm him down, and in doing so, they both ended up on the ground. The victim didn’t have any visible marks and decided not to press charges.

Beach blanket … bingo!
9:45 a.m. — 900 block of Beach Road. Petit Theft. A woman said her daughter left a purse unattended on the beach and it was stolen. Her driver’s license, credit card and cell phone were in the purse.

Two very different sides
11:40 a.m. — 4300 block of Mangrove Place. Grand Theft. A woman who had had her iPad stolen utilized the device’s GPS to determine where it was being used. She suspected a health caregiver who had access to her home. She went with a sheriff’s deputy to the address the GPS had provided. She and the deputy heard voices inside the house, but when they knocked on the door, the voices went silent, and nobody came to the door. That raised the deputy’s suspicions. The two went next door and showed a photo of the suspect to the neighbor, who said that woman did not live in the adjacent house. The victim was adamant that the caregiver had stolen the iPad, so she and the deputy went to the caregiver’s home. The caregiver, who appeared hurt that she was being accused of theft, told the deputy that the victim has a history of allowing people of questionable morals into her home. In fact, the victim had just told the caregiver a couple of days earlier that she had hired two drug-addicted women to move some furniture for her. The iPad was never located.

July 19
Always a question
5:37 p.m. — 100 block of Columbus Boulevard. Criminal Mischief. A boat owner said someone had splashed varnish on his boat, which was parked legally on the street. The man said he had a suspect in mind; however, he had no proof to support his suspicions. A deputy spoke to the suspect, who denied any involvement but said he had noticed someone lurking in the area the previous night, after his motion-detector light illuminated.

Paradise by the dashboard light
8:27 p.m. — 100 block of South Sandy Hook Road. Battery. A middle-age woman visiting a Sarasota man called the Sheriff’s Office to report a fight the couple had had. She said they had been dining out. Once they returned to his home, they began arguing. She claims he hit her on the head with a door jam. There were no visible injuries, and she refused medical attention. The man said the only physical contact the two had had was consensual sex in his car on the way to the restaurant. Yowza! Both of them told the deputy that their relationship is only sexual on occasion and that they aren’t romantically involved at all. No arrests were made.