Witnesses deny seeing a man chased through downtown

Wednesday, May 15

Negative influence?

9:33 a.m. 3700 block of South Osprey Avenue

Family dispute: A woman who purchased a condo for her 40-year-old son, who has  Asperger’s syndrome wants his on-again, off-again — and now back on — girlfriend out of the residence. Having lived there together for two years before breaking up, the couple recently reunited and were again residing together.

The complainant said the girlfriend is a drug addict and had coerced her son to use cocaine at some point. The subject said the complainant had arrived, let herself into the condo and started an argument, and the man left because he doesn’t want to deal with his mother, and he was not present while the officer was at the scene. There was no resolution specified in the incident report.

They’ve ‘seen a lot’

9:56 p.m., 1300 block of First Street.

Suspicious incident: A man called law enforcement to report a man was chasing him, threatening to shoot him and making statements about owing him money. He advised the incident began at the corner of Lemon Avenue and First Street. He said he does not know the man but was able to provide a description.

The alleged chase ended at the county transit station next to City Hall. The complainant said he was in fear for his life and wished to have the incident documented,

While canvassing the area, the officer saw a group of eight men sitting at a table near the intersection where the alleged chase began. They advised they had been there for a while and had "seen a lot" but did not see a man being chased through the nearby intersection. 

Exactly what they had seen was not included in the incident report.

The officer also spoke with a security guard at the SCAT station, who advised he did not see either subject matching the descriptions and did not see or hear an altercation in the area. No further action was taken.

Thursday, May 16

Probation relocation

3:06 p.m., 2200 block of North Lemon Avenue

Family disturbance: Officers met with a woman who stated her daughter had returned from her girlfriend’s house when a dispute occurred. Although the argument had ended, the daughter said she wanted to stay but the complainant said she didn’t want her there because of decisions she had been making.

The woman advised her daughter was on probation and had been staying in St. Petersburg with her girlfriend. The daughter said she wanted to be at home, but her mother keeps causing arguments with her, and that since she came out as gay has been treating her differently. She said she wants her mother to transfer probation rights to her girlfriend’s parents, but she refuses.

Eventually, it was agreed the daughter would return to her girlfriend's house, at least for the night, in St. Petersburg. 

Friday, May 17

Stool pigeon

2:42 p.m., 1000 block of South Tamiami Trail

Criminal mischief: Having already left the scene, a customer of a retail business called law enforcement on the store’s behalf to report a disturbance, Upon arrival, an officer was informed the caller was no longer at the location but did leave a business card. 

The officer called the man who advised three juveniles have been frequenting the location, throwing a metal stool down a hallway, screaming and generally making a nuisance of themselves. The store’s staff advised they did not file a report because the stool did not belong to them, although they were concerned about the recurring disturbances. 

The owner of the stool was not on scene and could not be contacted, nor was the officer able to observe the stool in question. The staff was informed to call the police the next time the juveniles cause a disturbance so that they can be issued a trespass warning.