The 2026 Longboat coconut heist

Friday, April 10

It felt illegal

5:57 p.m., 775 Longboat Club Road

Suspicious person: While fishing from the beach is perfectly legal in Longboat Key, a woman called police on two men doing just that. The woman told dispatch she felt the two fishing from shore was illegal. Longboat police then called the woman, who told the officer she knew there was nothing he could do, but she wanted to better understand the rules behind fishing from the beach because she had never seen anyone do so and “felt it was illegal.” The officer explained the practice was not forbidden and the woman hung up on him. The case was closed.

The Longboat coconut heist

6:57 p.m., 1000 block Gulf of Mexico Drive

Suspicious person: When a man returned home to his condo, he saw a brownish-red car parked on the shoulder of Gulf of Mexico Drive with its flashers on. When he pulled through the gate to the complex, he saw a group of men gathering coconuts. A verbal confrontation commenced between the group and condo owner, who told the group that this was private property. The group’s response was “no, we are gathering coconuts.” The man then went to his unit and called the police. By the time the officer arrived, the coconut burglary was complete, the brownish-red getaway car was gone and the condo owner was left with several less coconuts to his name. The man told the officer he didn’t want the crime investigated and that he would be in contact with the property managers. The case was then closed.

Tuesday, April 14

Working, jamming on the roof

11:03 a.m., St. Judes Drive

Noise disturbance: A neighbor called police on a construction crew next door to her playing loud music. When the officer arrived on scene, he saw a group on workers on the roof of a two-story building while a loud radio was playing. Police determined the radio was violating the town’s noise ordinance and approached the workers, who responded “in broken English” that they would keep the radio turned down. Police closed the case.

Wednesday, April 15

Urinating, speeding, something like that

6:17 p.m., Broadway Street

Citizen assist: 911 dispatch received a report by a woman who described seeing a man in his 50s, about 5 feet, 7 inches tall wearing a white shirt and navy pants urinating in front of her home. Police arrived on scene and canvassed the area but found no one matching the description, instead stumbling upon a group of people walking a black Labrador. The dog walkers advised they had not seen anything of the sort and had been walking in the area for a while. Police then heard a voice from a woman coming from a balcony of the house. The officer walked to the rear gate of the residence, surprising the woman who said she had not called the police. She then checked her call log and saw that she had indeed called the police. She said she had done so because of the speeding vehicles leaving nearby restaurants. A second officer arrived on scene and had a similar conversation with the woman, who said to both officers she had never mentioned a urinater and had not seen any such thing, despite what the dispatcher logged. The officers saw no vehicles speeding while in the area and closed the case.