Cops Corner: Longboat Key 03.12.15

March 5
Sexual predator
7:15 a.m. — 300 block of North Shore Road.

Suspicious Person: License cameras notified police that a vehicle registered to a sexual predator had entered the Key. Police spoke with the man and confirmed his identity, then let him go back to work.

Gulf course
9:17 a.m. — 3700 block of GMD. 

Code Enforcement: Police received a call about people hitting golf balls into the Gulf from the beach. Police found a man holding a driver and a woman. The man said he hit a few balls into the water but was done. Police warned him that his actions were prohibited by town ordinance. 

Emergency assistance
3:16 p.m. — 4300 block of GMD.

Rescue: Police were dispatched to a condo swimming pool about a man who was unresponsive but breathing. Other residents had pulled the man out of the pool after he went under water and didn’t surface. Firefighter/paramedics transported him to a hospital.

Lost wallet
4:04 p.m. — 1200 block of GMD.

Lost/Missing Property: A man said he had his wallet the night before, when he attended a function at a place of worship, but was now missing the wallet. His wife searched the property and could not find it, nor could anyone at the place of worship.

Off the hook
8:28 p.m. — Longboat Pass Bridge.

Fishing: A man was fishing from the draw span part of the Longboat Pass Bridge, which signs state is prohibited. Police gave him a written warning.

Dog fight
6:01 p.m. — 3000 block of Grand Bay Blvd.

Civil Disturbance: A  groomer picked up a dog, Trixie, after the owner requested her service. The groomer started feeling ill and transported Trixie to a Sarasota location but told the woman she would have Trixie back by 5:30 p.m. The woman called police because she worried the groomer wouldn’t bring Trixie back. She later found a text message from the groomer telling her to stop harassing her and stating that she would meet the owner at the guard gate and would not charge her or the service. She left Trixie and a bag of treats with the guard. Police determined that no theft occurred and spoke to the groomer the next day after she received threatening texts from the woman, one of which stated, “Stop harassing me if u know whats good for u.” The groomer played a voicemail from the woman in which the woman asked her to bring the dog back by 5:30 p.m., but the groomer got stuck in traffic. Police told the woman not to contact the groomer.

March 6
The heat is on
12:38 a.m. — 4300 block of Falmouth Drive.

Fire: A deputy fire chief told police that two fires at a condominium were suspicious, and he could not provide a cause. The fire awakened several residents, but no one saw anything suspicious. Police planned to ask for surveillance video from the property.

Flames of passion
1:13 a.m. — 3800 block of GMD.

Traffic Violation: A Bradenton Beach officer stopped a vehicle without its lights on while he assisted at the scene of a suspicious fire on the Key. The two men in the vehicle said they pulled into a beach access parking lot and had sex inside their vehicle but denied having any involvement in the fire. The officer found two open containers of beer, a used condom, a pair of handcuffs and a pair of blue panties — but no evidence they were involved with the fire. The driver received a citation for his suspended driver’s license; both men received citations for open containers.

Break and take
3:14 p.m. — 5500 block of GMD.

Larceny From Vehicle: A woman left her purse on the passenger-side floor of a vehicle while she was at a park. She returned and found someone had broken the passenger-side window and stolen her wallet. Police were unable to locate suspects.

No thanks
3:38 p.m. — Intersection of Gulf of Mexico Drive and Bay View Drive. 

Rescue: A woman felt light-headed after falling from her bicycle. She refused to be transported to a hospital despite firefighter/paramedics’ recommendations. 

Stolen sticker
5:12 p.m. — 1900 block of Harbourside Drive.

Larceny From Vehicle: A woman’s registration decal was stolen from her vehicle. She realized it was missing when she received a parking ticket in Sarasota.

March 8
Under lock and key
12:07 a.m. — 4100 block of GMD.

Burglary: The owner of a luxury-car service business discovered that keys to 12 vehicles were missing from a storage unit in the business’ garage. The man believes that someone took his keys to interrupt his business. He said they were his only keys, and he would not be able to obtain replacements until the following week. The person responsible could be a former employee who was fired last year and now works for another limousine company. Dispatch was attempting to verify whether a vehicle from the man’s company was on the Key at the time of the theft. The man said he would block the garage entrance so no vehicles could be removed.

Park prohibition
2:20 p.m. — 100 block of GMD. 

Code Enforcement: Police noticed three people were on a town dock that had been closed due to a previous fire. They were also drinking alcoholic beverages. The group told police they didn’t notice the signs, and they didn’t know alcohol was prohibited in town parks without a permit.