Cops Corner: Sarasota

Jan. 5
Evidence to eat, not bury
1:28 p.m. — 3500 block of Central Avenue. Suspicious Circumstance. A woman called police because her dog kept returning to her home with suspicious–looking bones. Police observed that each of the bones had a straight cut; they suspected a local butcher was giving the dog some scraps.

Jan. 7
A likely story
9:32 p.m. — 1200 block of South Tamiami Trail. Suspicious Circumstance. A man reportedly put his arm into an ATM machine for several minutes. When police approached the man, he explained he was an ATM repairman.

Too much energy
9:01 p.m. — 1900 block of Main Street. Suspicious Circumstance. Juveniles were reported running around on the balcony of a second-floor business and damaging the rear door.

Angry birds
8:50 a.m. — 3500 block of Clark Drive. Family Dispute. A man told police that while he was feeding his birds, he saw his neighbor throw beer bottles on his lawn and on his roof. When police officers confronted the neighbor, he told them he couldn’t take the non-stop squawking of the birds and that although he had been involved in an argument with his neighbor, he had not thrown any beer bottles. Police officers, nonetheless, reported seeing a beer bottle on the man’s roof.

Jan. 8
What a cliché
9:20 a.m. — 2100 block of Eighth Street. Family Dispute. A woman told police her neighbors were parking on her lawn and driving all over it. The officers told the neighbors to keep off her lawn.

Fast getaway
4:10 p.m. — 1900 block of Main Street. Open Doors. Police officers who found the door of a car open reported they believed the owner of the car had forgotten to shut the door.

No, thank you
6:47 p.m. — 1400 block of Cocoanut Avenue. Suspicious Circumstance. A man told police someone had banged on his window and asked him if he wanted to buy pills. The man said he had replied he wasn’t interested and asked the seller to get off his property.

Jan. 9
Needle in a haystack
7:13 a.m. — 1900 block of Ringling Boulevard. Suspicious Circumstance. Police located a hypodermic needle in the grass near Ringling Boulevard.

Missing on Main
8:34 a.m. — 1500 block of Main Street. Lost Property. A man visiting the city told police he had lost his wallet somewhere on Main Street.

Subscription shutdown
11 a.m. — 500 block of North Shore Drive. Ordinance Violation. Two men were told they couldn’t sell magazine subscriptions door-to-door without obtaining a permit from the city.

Ah, life at sea
11:53 a.m. — 10 block of Marina Plaza. Civil Dispute. A woman told police she had hired a man two weeks ago to do tile work on her boat while she was out of town. When she returned, she found dirty carpets, items broken on the boat and no new tile. The man refused to return calls, and she suspected he was living on the boat while she was gone.

Not a scratch on them
1:15 p.m. — 1700 block of South Tamiami Trail. Suspicious Circumstance. Police issued a case number to a vehicle crash because one of the parties requested it, even though police couldn’t find any damage.

Why is my boat sinking?
2:40 p.m. — 2500 block of Cocoanut Avenue. Burglary. A man told police that when he dropped off some scrap metal at a recycling center, he saw aluminum boat-part pieces that he knew had been stolen a few days earlier. Police planned to investigate and discover who sold the aluminum to the recycling business.

Trespasser trounced
7:20 p.m. — 1500 block of First Street. Trespassing. A man told police that a homeless person was harassing people at a bus station and asking people for drugs. The man was trespassed from the bus stop for one year.

Jan. 10
That’s what friends do
6:30 a.m. — 2400 block of North Tamiami Trail. Fight. A man who admitted to having drunk too much told police that after he had seen his best friend smoke rock cocaine, a fight had ensued. However, both people declined to press charges.

Transient trouble
3:31 p.m. — 700 block of South Osprey Avenue. Code Enforcement. The manager of an assisted living facility requested extra patrols, because residents were fearful of some homeless people loitering under a bridge west of the facility.

Move along
10:52 p.m. — 1900 block of Main Street. Trespassing. Police issued a homeless man a trespass warning after he refused to stop loitering in the area. He declined a trip to a homeless shelter, but police warned him he would be arrested if he attempted again to sleep outdoors.

Jan. 11
Stop the whining
3:55 a.m. — 2300 block of Temple Street. Animal Nuisance. A woman told police that her neighbors got a puppy for Christmas and they keep the puppy on the lanai at night. As a result, she said, everyone in the neighborhood has to listen to the puppy bark and whine all night.

The good ol’ outdoors
8:44 a.m. — 1900 block of Golf Street. Suspicious Person. A homeless man sleeping behind a closed business was sent on his way after he refused a suggestion that he go to a homeless shelter.

Gone in 60 seconds
6:37 p.m. — 1900 block of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Robbery. A woman told police that a man had snatched $80 in cash out of her hand at a bus stop and fled on foot through some side yards. Police couldn’t locate the suspect.