Cops Corner: Sarasota 5.24.18

May 18

ROCKY ROAD
7 a.m. — 1500 block of South Tuttle Avenue
Property damage: A woman discovered that, sometime overnight, someone vandalized her car. The front passenger window was shattered, and a large rock was in the driver’s seat. It did not appear anyone had entered the car, and the woman said nothing was missing. An officer determined the incident appeared to be a random act of vandalism.

CAUGHT RED HANDED
2:45 p.m. — 1000 block of North Tamiami Trail
Theft: An employee at a grocery store saw a man place three packages of red meat into a backpack inside his shopping cart. The man then took the bag out of the cart and walked toward the exit without paying. Employees stopped the man before he left and asked him to return the meats, which were valued at $41.

May 19

PUMP THE BREAKS
5:30 a.m. — 300 block of North Washington Boulevard
Property damage: The owner of a gas station reported that, sometime in the early-morning hours, someone pried open a door to one of the gas pumps and broke it. The owner reviewed the surveillance video but was unable to identify anyone who might have been responsible for breaking the pump. After speaking to an officer, the owner speculated that the damage might have occurred earlier, and one of his employees may have missed it during the station’s regular pump inspections. The estimated damage done to the pump was between $1,000 and $1,500.

CRACKING THE CASE
6:47 a.m. — 0 block of Central Avenue
Lost/found property: A man went to a café to get a drink, but the business was closed. He drove to another coffee shop, not realizing he had left his briefcase on top of his car’s trunk. When he parked and got out of his car, he noticed he did not have his briefcase and did not see it in his car. The man remembered a construction worker yelling at him during the drive, but he did not know what the worker said. The man tried to retrace his route but did not find his briefcase. An officer reviewed security footage and determined the briefcase was still on the trunk when the man originally arrived at the second coffee shop, but it was gone when he drove back a few minutes later. The officer was unable to locate the briefcase.