Cops Corner: Longboat Key

Jan. 23
Quality control
3:22 p.m. — 500 block of Bay Isles Parkway. Civil Disturbance. A dry-cleaning store employee and a customer argued after the customer said he had dropped off six shirts and the employee insisted he only dropped off five. The employee got upset after the customer said the quality of service at the business had gone down, and he told him to leave and did not give him back his clothing. Police told the man the missing-shirt issue was a civil matter but accompanied him back to the store so he could pay for his cleaned clothing.

Lots to chew on
5:05 p.m. — 500 block of Forest Way. Suspicious Circumstance. A woman’s home was still locked when she returned, but she worried someone could be inside because she could not find her cellphone and found a piece of chewing gum near the sink that looked different from the gum she normally chews. Police found her cellphone near the area she had been in earlier but did not find anything out of place in the home.

Jan. 24
Weighty issue
1:13 p.m. — 500 block of Yawl Lane. Disturbance. A woman found Styrofoam bowls with pencils stuck through them on her property that were the same type of bowls she uses to feed her cats outside her home. Her neighbor said she was tired of picking up the bowls after they blow onto her property. Police suggested the woman use heavier bowls so they won’t blow away.

Sleeping under the influence
2:40 p.m. — 5600 block of GMD. Suspicious Circumstance. A convenience store clerk called police because a man, who was possibly intoxicated, was sleeping in the driver’s seat of a truck parked in front of the store. Police noticed several open cans of beer on the floorboard of the truck. The keys were not in the ignition, and no witnesses saw him driving. The man got a ride home from a friend and a warning from police about the consequences of drinking and driving.

Bark in another park
4:31 p.m. — 100 block of GMD. Animal. A caller reported that a couple had a dog off-leash in a park, but, when police arrived, the dog was on a leash, which was still a violation of the town ordinance because dogs are not allowed at the park. Police suggested they take the dog to nearby Ken Thompson Park, where dogs are allowed.

No Place Like home
9:16 p.m. — 4000 block of GMD. Public Service. A convenience store employee called police about a disheveled-looking female who was not wearing shoes. The employee tried to give her money but she ran away. Later, police stopped a woman, who matched the employee’s description, in the parking lot of another convenience store. She initially refused to answer questions from police but then said she wanted to go to her parents’ home in Bradenton. Police gave her a ride.

Jan. 25
Game over
10:32 p.m. — 700 block of Longboat Club Road. Suspicious Circumstance. A “European-type gypsy” woman got on the elevator with three condo residents and followed them to their units. One of the residents confronted the woman after the couple on the elevator invited the woman inside for a glass of wine. The woman pulled a necklace with a peacock jewel on it from around her neck and told them they were part of the peacock jewel game. She said she is trying to get to the next level of the game and that the man’s driving drew her to him. She called the man by name before leaving, which concerned him, because he did not give her his name.

Jan. 26
Smokin' hot
5:06 p.m. — 4900 block of GMD. Fire Alarm. Police responded to a fire alarm at a condominium. When an officer arrived, the security guard told him he was heating up his fried chicken dinner in the guardhouse kitchen and the meal set off the alarm when it began to smoke.