Longboat Key Cops Corner: Safety, uh, first?

Friday, Sept. 9

No cause for alarm

12:54 p.m., 500 block of Harbor Point Road

Alarm: Officers were sent to a home to follow up on the activation of an intruder alarm. An operator for an alarm-monitoring company told police the resident pushed the wrong button while disarming the system, leading to the alert. An officer spoke with the homeowner who said he was aware of the situation but that the alarm had been accidental and there was no emergency.

Saturday, Sept. 10

That was easy

9:36 a.m., 2100 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive

Road hazard: An officer was alerted to the presence of bedding on the highway and drove to investigate, finding a man who was re-securing a mattress into the bed of a truck. The man said the bedding shifted while underway and then fell out.

Not yours, yet

8 a.m., 700 block of Lyons Lane

Trespassing: The owner of a home asked police to come hear her story of moved property and apparent trespassing. The owner said the home was nearing the completion of sale, but she arrived after after three months to find some of her belongings moved around, some even outdoors. She said she had heard from neighbors the soon-to-be owner had visited several times before the close of sale without her knowledge. In one instance, the owner said, property had to be retrieved from a trash bin by a real estate agent, though it was undamaged. The owner, requesting periodic patrols of the home, said no one other than a cleaning crew and a floor-repair craftsman were expected to be inside until the sale was final.

So many missing wallets

9:45 a.m., police headquarters

Citizen assist: A man came to the police department inquiring if any wallets had been turned in, because he believed he lost his a few days earlier at a town supermarket. The man was told to check with the market but that an item similar to the one he described had been found, not at the supermarket but rather near the police station, and turned in. The officer told the man he could return during weekday business hours and check.

Rising waters

4:18 p.m., 6500 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive

Citizen assist: An officer spoke to a resident who reported a concerning rise of water and a potentially blocked storm drain. The officer, while noting the neighborhood often gather water in heavy rain, noted no obvious blockages but that the water was deep enough to possibly hide an obstruction. He also noted the water seemed lower than it had earlier in the day. The town’s Public Works Department staff indicated it planned to examine drains along Gulf of Mexico Drive during business hours to determine if there were any blockages.

Sunday, Sept. 11

I came for the waters

8:18 a.m., 6800 block of Longboat Drive South

Citizen assist: A resident called police concerned about broken water pipes at a construction site across the street. An officer found no identifying signs or contact information about the builder responsible for the property but called a Public Works Department staffer, who said he would come shut off the flow.

Pump up the volume

12:37 p.m., 3700 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive

Citizen assist: A resident complained to police that a town pumping station was making noise continuously. A police supervisor also responded and contacted the Public Works Department, a staffer from which said the noise was actually that of a backup generator powering the installation, and that nothing could be done to quiet it.

Alarming weather

9:28 p.m., 600 block of Buttonwood Drive

Alarm: Police deduced that a reported alarm from a home had likely been triggered by a severe storm taking place at the time. The residence was secure.

Monday, Sept. 12

Safety, uh, first?

1:20 p.m., near Buttonwood Harbor

Boating: A boat operator stopped by police for operating the vessel in violation of a slow-speed, minimum-wake zone was cited in connection with missing safety gear, such as a throwable life preserver, a fire extinguisher and a sound-producing device.

Tuesday, Sept. 13

Floating, but not really

3 p.m., North Lido Key beach

Boating: While on routine marine patrol, an officer encountered a boater signaling him. The boater said he had run aground, but there were no injuries and his boat was undamaged. A commercial towing service was enroute to refloat the vessel, the boater said.

Motorcycle = suspicious

5:20 p.m., 2800 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive

Suspicious person: Police stopped to speak with a man who had moved his poorly-running motorcycle to a beach public-access point to ascertain what repairs it needed. The man told the officer he was awaiting the arrival of a part to make his motor run properly. A routine records check with a crime-information database indicated the 39-year-old was the subject of a no-extradition warrant from South Carolina.

Wednesday, Sept. 14

Gotta fly now

4:28 a.m., 300 block of North Shore Road

Welfare check: A caller to police was concerned they could not reach a family member in town. An officer knocked on the door of the family member’s home and found him safe. The man said he had fallen asleep with his phone ringer off and was not aware of attempts to reach him. He said he would have had to wake up soon anyway to drive to Tampa to catch an airline flight home. The officer told the original caller what he had learned, which coincided with her concern about him not answering her calls.

Thursday, Sept. 15

Dogged about the rules

2:33 p.m., 6900 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive

Animal complaint: A caller who did not wish to meet with  police alerted officers to the presence of a family with a small brown and black dog on the beach. The officer spoke to a woman who conceded having a dog inside their beach tent, but that she did not know dogs were forbidden at the shore. She and the dog left immediately.