Cops Corner: Pelican Press

Feb. 4
Not the response he wanted
1:10 a.m. — Intersection of Canal Road and Ocean Boulevard. Driving Under the Influence. While sitting in his car at the intersection of Canal Road and Ocean Boulevard, a deputy saw a vehicle moving “at an extremely high rate of speed southbound.” Just before the driver reached the intersection, he braked hard and came to a rest on the crosswalk, just past the stop bar. He then turned left onto Canal Road, where the deputy stopped him. The male driver had bloodshot eyes and was slurring his speech, the deputy reported, and the interior of the vehicle reeked of alcohol. When the deputy asked for the driver’s license, the driver dropped it inside the vehicle, then fumbled with it before finally getting a grip on it. The driver told the deputy he was heading from his home to a Village nightclub. He also admitted to having had a few drinks, but he said the deputy should give him a break, because he was a firefighter. The man added that he had seen many drunk drivers given breaks. The driver stressed that he had not hurt anyone and that if he were arrested for DUI, the Sheriff’s Office would be putting people at risk that the driver otherwise might be able to save in a fire. After the deputy took the driver to jail, the driver refused to take a breath test. The driver continued to insist the deputy should give him a break.

Feb. 5
Really in the wrong place
2 a.m. — 5200 block of Calle de Rio. Disorderly Intoxication and Criminal Mischief. A homeowner reported that a man he did not know, who was wearing red shorts and no shirt, was trying to break into his house. When the deputy arrived, the man was standing near the front of the house, where a window was shattered. The deputy told the 34-year-old man to walk toward him, which the man did. As the man came closer, the deputy saw the man was stumbling and the zipper on his shorts was down. It also appeared the man had been unable to relieve himself in an appropriate facility, and the man had the odor of an alcoholic beverage about him. When the deputy asked the man to sit down, the man did so. The man was slurring his words and saying he wanted to go inside. The deputy repeatedly told the man that that was not the man’s home, but the man kept insisting it was. The deputy also observed that the man had blood on his right hand. When the deputy then spoke with the homeowner, the latter told the deputy he was sleeping when he heard someone banging loudly on the door. When he went to see who was at the door, the man was trying the doorknob. The homeowner added that he had grabbed his gun for protection, but he had not wanted to shoot the man. Therefore, he had hit the man’s hand with the butt of the firearm. The homeowner said he wanted to press charges over the broken window. The deputy took the intoxicated man to jail.

Feb. 9
Free ride
3:05 p.m. — 700 block of Sandy Nook Street. Found Property. A deputy responded to a call from a person who had found a pink-and-gray bicycle helmet and a 16-speed bike with a “Banjo Brothers” rear cargo compartment. The deputy estimated the value of the bicycle at $500.

Feb. 10
Bike thief strikes again
11:35 a.m. — 5600 block of Midnight Pass Road. Petit Theft. A man reported that someone had stolen his brand-new bicycle, which was valued at $289. The man said someone had cut the cable lock securing the bike to the man’s carport.

No need to ‘unleash the hounds’
4 a.m. — 3900 block of North Shell Road. Residential Burglary Attempt. A woman reported that someone had tried to enter her home between 3 and 4 a.m. She said her husband had heard their dogs barking, but after climbing out of bed, he had not observed anything suspicious. Still, the husband had found damage to a screen on a window. The woman said the couple thought the dogs had scared away the perpetrator. The responding deputy said the screen was next to the front door, about 8 feet off the ground. The deputy added that it appeared someone had climbed over or reached over from the front steps and tried to pull out the screen.

Feb. 11
Two sides to this triangle
1:41 a.m. — 400 block of Canal Road. Disturbance. A man said he and a woman were walking down Canal Road, toward her house, then got into a truck and left the area. As they were driving away, the man said he spotted a second man standing in the bushes by the woman’s house. Then the second man started to follow the couple in his vehicle. The first man pulled over when he spotted a deputy. The second man told the deputy he was dating the woman and that he had gone to her house to talk with her. He said he did not know the man with her and wanted to find out who the man was. The woman told the deputy she had had a relationship with the second man, but they had broken up numerous times and no longer were dating. The woman said she was drunk when the second man spotted her with the first man and had no recollection of what had transpired. She said she did not want the second man at her house, so the deputy issued that man a trespass warning.