Woman tried to pay for groceries with a fake $100 bill

Friday, Jan. 23

Illegal tender

2:35 p.m., 525 Bay Isles Parkway

Suspicious incident: Police were called to a grocery store after a woman presented a cashier with counterfeit money. When police responded, the manager of the store told police about the incident, saying that when the customer was checking out, she attempted to pay for her groceries with a fake $100 bill. When the cashier used the counterfeit detector pen, the mark on the bill was dark, showing the bill was counterfeit. The cashier gave the bill back to the customer as store policy requires and the customer promptly pulled out her cellphone and yelled at someone on the other line for giving her fake money. She then pulled out another bill, this one legal, paid for her groceries, got into the passenger seat of a convertible sports car and left the store. Police closed the case as the store did not suffer financially, thanks to a pen.

Saturday, Jan. 24

Car, driver and passenger not bright enough

12:01 a.m., 400 block Gulf of Mexico Drive

Drug case: On a late Friday night/early Saturday morning, police pulled over a driver and passenger of a vehicle that was traveling on Gulf of Mexico Drive with a headlight out. When the officer approached the vehicle, police detected a strong odor of marijuana. When he looked inside the vehicle, he could see smoke coming from the cup holder of the car. The driver of the vehicle then surrendered a marijuana cigarette to the officer. The passenger of the vehicle told police it belonged to him and that he did not have a medical marijuana card. Police tested and weighed the cigarette, which showed a positive result, arrested the passenger and closed the case.

Outta gas

3:43 p.m., New Pass

Disabled vessel: A police officer on marine patrol found a boater in distress, drifting toward the New Pass bridge pilings. Police approached the boat and made contact with the captain, instructing him to deploy his anchor, which he did. The captain told police that he ran out of fuel and was attempting to reach a nearby marina. The marine patrol officer was not able to safely approach the boat as he was in a tidal zone and close to the bridge. The officer told the captain he would not be able to tow him safely, and instructed him to call a commercial towboat. Police closed the case, and the boater got a much-needed tow just up the pass.

Sunday, Jan. 25

Parking lot soliciting?

11:04 a.m., 525 Bay Isles Pkwy.

Suspicious vehicle: Police were called by someone who said they saw a man driving around in a blue Honda trying to speak with elderly people next to their vehicles outside of a grocery store and drug store. The caller, who did not wish to meet with police, said the incident had been happening for about 15 minutes and gave dispatch the tag number of the suspicious vehicle. Police arrived on scene, ran a search on the tag that showed no active warrants and surveyed the parking lot. No vehicle matching the description was seen, and police closed the case.