Spilled water in parking lot culminates in heated confrontation

Tuesday, April 21

No filter, no problem

7:55 p.m., 3740 Gulf of Mexico Drive

Suspicious person: A man puffing on a cigar watching the sunset was interrupted by the boys in blue recently on Longboat Key. According to a police report, officers were dispatched to the beach after a report of a suspicious person was seen smoking on the beach. The man was described as 70 years old, wearing an orange shirt and sitting on a chair while smoking. When police arrived, they made contact with a man matching the description smoking an unfiltered cigar. While smoking cigarettes is not allowed on public beaches, drop the “ette” and you’re in the clear as Town Code describes, so police closed the case.

Wednesday, April 22

Nude and elusive

5:01 p.m., 3175 Gulf of Mexico Drive

Suspicious person: A concerned beachgoer called police after reportedly seeing a man on the beach, about 70 to 80 years old, and naked. Police responded to the reported beach access and canvassed the 3100 to 3200 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive. The search came up short, yielding no results, and police closed the case.

Thursday, April 23

Hope she got that rental insurance

10:45 a.m., 775 Longboat Club Road

Property damage: A woman driving a rental car was driving past a golf course when something that sometimes happens when driving by a golf course happened. The woman reported to police that an unknown golfer had hit a golf ball into her rental car, damaging the rear passenger side quarter panel of the vehicle. The police wrote a report, told the woman to contact the rental company, provided a case number and closed the case.

Don’t fight over spilled water

11:33 a.m., 5460 Gulf of Mexico Drive

Suspicious incident: At the Longboat Key Police Department, a man walked in to report a troubling incident the day before involving him and one of his neighbors at a community. The man told police that an argument started regarding water spilled in the parking lot. The verbal confrontation escalated when the man’s neighbor got into his face, pushing the brim of his hat against his forehead. The complainant told police that when that happened, he extended his arm into the man’s chest to stop any further progression and that he believed the man was looking to start a fight. He told police he thought his neighbor was trying to start a physical altercation and would like to document the incident. Police wrote down the story and closed the case.