- April 17, 2024
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Stormy weather
If you were a Longboat Key Police officer on the morning of Aug. 19, you had two challenges: stay dry and deal with an enormous number of apparently false alarms, likely touched off by rough weather that moved through.
Between the hours of 6:47 a.m. and 7:22 p.m., officers responded to nine alarm calls on the island. In each case, an officer checked the properties and found no signs of foul play.
For the record, winds in the area jumped from about 6 mph to about 25 mph in a short period of time, as plotted at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport. At least one waterspout was sighted in the gulf.
Not fine
5 p.m., North Shore Road
Parking: An officer encountered a vehicle parked on the roadway adjacent to yellow tape indicating no parking was allowed. As the officer wrote a citation, the owner and family arrived. The driver of the vehicle said he saw signs referring to parallel parking and thought he was fine. The officer completed the citation and issued it to the driver.
Where there’s water . . .
5:48 p.m., 700 block of Longboat Court
Public service: An officer was called to a neighborhood to look into a report of a possible broken water main. The officer found a pool under construction and two sump pumps removing water from an excavated area. A check with the property owner confirmed city inspectors had visited the property and said all was within the rules.
No touching
9:03 p.m., 4700 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive
Animal: Police were called to look into a report of people touching manatees on the beach behind a resort. An officer arrived to find a group of people some distance away from the sea mammals. Resort officials had also reminded the people to watch from a distance.
Shadowy figure
10:57 p.m., 500 block of DeNarvaez Drive
Suspicious person: A neighbor who had gone to his backyard to summon his dog told police he spotted a suspicious man across the canal at nearby home. He said the man, who had been peering inside the home, heard him call his dog and ran around the front of the house and drove off in a car with a loud exhaust. Police found no evidence of a break in.
Scheduling mix up
11:48 p.m., 1200 block of Harbor Cay
Suspicious incident: Police were called to look into a case of a person in medical scrubs persistently ringing a doorbell. The home health aide told police he had an assignment at the home, but no one was answering the door. The resident told police a cancellation notice had been sent to the aide’s agency, but word must not have been passed. Police were called because the resident was no expecting visitors at that hour.
Government at work
12:40 p.m., 6400 block of Gulfside Drive
Suspicious person: A resident called police concerned about a man she spotted sitting in a parked car on her street and walking around at a neighbor’s home. An officer said he had seen a car matching the caller’s description nearby. A check of the car’s license number revealed the driver was working for the U.S. Census Bureau and was performing official business at the time of the report.
Safely floating
2:44 p.m., 4700 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive
Rescue assist: Police and fire-rescue personnel were called to the beach following a report of a struggling swimmer. The object spotted in the water turned out to be a buoy.
Eyewitness
4:47 p.m., North Shore Road
Information report: An officer standing near the beach watched as a sedan trying to turn around in a cul-de-sac backed slowly into a coupe that was stopped in the road behind. Both drivers exchanged information and no police assistance was needed.
New to the neighborhood
11:51 a.m., 600 block of Dream Island Road
Noise: Hammering from a home drew the attention of a caller to police. Once on the scene, an officer spoke to the property owner who said work had been progressing on a kitchen, but it was finished. The officer explained the town’s rules on construction noise, and the owner replied he had recently purchased the property and was unaware of noise restrictions on a Sunday.
Friend in need
3:01 p.m., 200 block of Sand Point Road
Suspicious incident: A security manager told police about encountering a person on the property who appeared incoherent and was speaking about a variety of conspiracies. A family friend was reached and came to pick up the person, stating the person had a medical appointment in the next week.
Speaking with the manager
5:49 p.m., 3000 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive
Suspicious incident: A caller complained to police that a group of people were not supposed to be using the resort’s barbecue area or lounge chairs. The officer talked with the people who said they were guests and offered to take the officer to their room as verification. The officer thanked them for their cooperation and said that was not necessary. He spoke again to the caller, who said she would take the incident up with the resort’s manager.
No longer missing
10:21 a.m., 100 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive
Missing person: An officer was alerted by the town’s license-plate reading system of a car connected to a missing person. The car was stopped and the driver said he didn’t know he had been reported missing. The driver’s mother in another state had reported the driver missing. The mother was contacted and put in touch with the driver, who said he was safe and unharmed.
Think of the turtles
10:54 p.m., 2800 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive
Code enforcement: Police asked the residents of a beachfront property to remove their furniture from the sand in keeping with the town’s turtle preservation regulations. The residents did so immediately.
Mystery smokers
7:35 p.m., 3400 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive
Suspicious circumstance: A caller to police alerted them to the presence of two people in a car, smoking something unusual in the resort parking lot. An officer found the vehicle, but it was unoccupied. The smokers were not found.
Some explaining to do
7:53 p.m., 500 block of Bayview Drive
Security check: Police driving past a property for which they had a patrol request from the owners discovered two unsecured doors, but everything normal inside. While on the scene, officers spoke to a family member who said he would be staying in the home for a while and that another relative had called to cancel the patrol request. A message with the officers’ discoveries was left on the owners’ phone.
Sorry
11:48 a.m., 600 Ranger Lane
Alarm: A neighbor who agreed to place a delivered package inside an adjacent home accidentally set off the intruder alarm. Police arrived and confirmed the man’s explanation.
At least it’s clean
12:42 p.m., police headquarters
Attempted fraud: A resident came to the police department to show officers a text that claimed the resident was the subject of an arrest warrant on money laundering charges and to respond. The resident did not do so.
