Cops Corner

Longboat park saxophonist's Sinatra standard falls flat

A saxophonist who didn't have a Frank Sinatra standard down pat is just one of the complaints Longboat Key police responded to in this week's Cops Corner.


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  • | 5:00 a.m. January 17, 2023
  • Longboat Key
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Friday, Jan. 6

Center of attention

10:41 a.m., Longboat Club Road and Gulf of Mexico Drive

Suspicious person: Police could not verify a report of a woman standing in the middle of the road. An officer sent to check out the call could not find anyone matching the description of the caller.


S-s-s-mokin’

1:50 p.m., 4700 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive

Alarm: An officer was released from the scene of an activated smoke alarm by fire department personnel. The device had been set off by cooking smoke, not a fire.


Making an impact

9:47 p.m., 200 block of Sands Point Road

Fire assist: A gas leak, possibly caused by a vehicle that backed into a gas line, drew the attention of police and fire units. Police assisted while fire personnel shut off the gas. Police determined the vehicle that likely caused the leak was gone upon officers’ arrival, and it was possible the gas had been leaking for a period of time. The assigned officer remained at the scene until released by the fire department.


Saturday, Jan. 7

Read all about it

10:15 a.m., 5700 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive

Suspicious vehicle: The sight of a vehicle circling a residential parking lot was suspicious enough for a caller to report what he saw and the vehicle's license-plate number. What an officer saw upon his arrival was a vehicle known to him as belonging to a newspaper delivery driver.


Playing all the hits

5:12 p.m., 700 block of St. Judes Drive North

Noise complaint: An officer asked the resident of a home to turn down a radio in the garage after receiving a noise complaint. The officer reported hearing the radio faintly as he walked up to the property. The resident complied after receiving a verbal warning.


All in one place

6:51 p.m., 5400 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive

Found property: An employee of the police department reported finding a wallet while on duty and arranged to meet an officer at the police department to turn it in. While the two first responders spoke in the parking lot, a civilian man approached and said he had lost his wallet after leaving it on the roof of his car. With identity confirmed, the wallet was returned to its owner.


Sunday, Jan. 8

Upside down

11:32 a.m., 10th Street Boat Ramps, Sarasota

Boating call: While on marine patrol, a Longboat officer was called to Sarasota to assist following a report of a capsized 20-foot boat with two people in the water near the 10th Street Boat Ramps. The people had been pulled aboard a civilian craft before the officer arrived. The capsized boat and the two people were brought back to the boat ramp area. No injuries were reported.


Missing, not missing

10:47 a.m., 4500 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive

Citizen assist: An out-of-town man called police to report his adult daughter missing after she failed to return to their condo that morning. He said the woman had met some people around the condominium’s hot tub around 12:30 a.m. but hadn’t been seen since. As officers were gathering information for their missing-person investigation, the adult daughter returned to the condo. The out-of-town man said no police investigation was necessary.


Monday, Jan. 9

No reply at all

11:09 a.m., 500 block of Bay Isles Parkway

Citizen assist: A town resident called police to report a collision in a retail shopping center’s parking lot. Damage to the resident’s car was limited to a small dent. The resident told police the man who hit her car provided a name and a telephone number before driving off. A police sergeant tried to call the number provided to contact the other driver but was unable to connect initially. The officer gave the resident a business card with the incident’s case number.


Tuesday, Jan. 10

A man and his dog

1:22 p.m., 2500 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive

Citizen assist: Police could not locate a dark-colored truck reported driving erratically on the golf course. A witness also reported the truck’s driver had let a dog out of the cab several times. Police who responded reported that officers have fielded similar calls in which they learned a golf course greenskeeper is allowed by management to drive his truck on the course in the performance of his official duties.


But you’re right here

4:12 p.m., police headquarters

Lost property: A resident of Longboat Key called town police to report the loss of her purse at a hamburger restaurant in the Bradenton area. A police employee explained such a report might be more effective if made to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, though the employee did say Longboat police would contact her if a lost purse matching the description of the one she lost is turned in.


We don’t do that here

5:30 p.m., 1000 block of Bogey Lane

Suspicious people: Officers found and spoke to a pair of men in T-shirts and jeans soliciting business for a roofing company in a neighborhood. The men produced valid ID and business cards for the company they said they represented and confirmed to officers they were working door to door to drum up business. The officers informed them that such in-person solicitation was a violation of town codes. The two men were checked for criminal wants and warrants and found to have none. They left without incident.


Wednesday, Jan. 11

Stuck, not stuck

5:48 p.m., 2100 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive

Fire assist: Police officers stood by while fire-rescue personnel worked to rescue people from a stuck elevator.


Thursday, Jan. 12

A little help

3:45 p.m., 4900 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive

Citizen assist: A family member of a recently deceased man called police after discovering a loaded firearm in a dresser drawer. With no knowledge of how to render it safe, she sought assistance from police. An officer arrived and unloaded the weapon.


Theeese little town blues…

3:30 p.m., 5500 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive

Noise complaints: Fractured musical notes from an apparently novice saxophone player attempting to perform Frank Sinatra’s signature “New York, New York” in a town park likely violated town ordinances on noise, but police were unable to find and cite him. A caller to police said the saxophonist had been making a brand-new start of it in the very heart of the park each of the last several days, but was clearly not a No. 1, top of the list, or even king of the hill. An officer who walked the trails to find the off-key performer ascertained the musician’s vagabond shoes must have been longing to stray, because he couldn’t be found.

 

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