Man waits until 1:30 for pop star to return to Longboat Key restaurant

Friday, Jan. 9

A fateful meeting with Sabrina Carpenter

1:16 a.m., Saint Judes Drive

Trespassing: Police were called when a man refused to leave the property of a restaurant after reportedly seeing a world-famous popstar who leaves “quite an impression / five feet to be exact.” When the officer arrived, he found a male fitting the description of the potential trespasser who started the conversation by asking the officer if he would like to search him. The officer obliged and found no weapons. The man then told police that he was at the restaurant because when he was eating dinner earlier that night, he had seen Sabrina Carpenter. “He felt the situation was fate,” and was waiting for her to return, according to the police report. The man left the property at about 1:30 a.m. without incident, and police closed the case.

Saturday, Jan. 10

Needle in a haystack

5:46 p.m., 3000 block Gulf of Mexico Drive

Suspicious person: Police were called by a man who wanted to report a suspicious person, though he wasn’t very helpful with the description. The officer arrived with the following to work with: “unknown person, unknown sex with an unknown description smoking on the beach.” The officer searched the beach and found nobody (or everybody) matching the description. He closed the case.

Sunday, Jan. 11

Huntin’ season

7:50 a.m., Harbourside Drive

Suspicious incident: Police were called after a woman heard gunshots coming from a batch of mangroves nearby. When the officer arrived to the store where the woman called from, he informed her that it was hunting season and there had been several similar calls recently. The woman said she had been told that hunting season had begun but had never heard them while working and wanted to be sure it was hunters in case any customers or nearby residents asked her. The officer reassured her, and the case was closed.

Monday, Jan. 12

That’s just how I walk

7:22 a.m., 2100 block Gulf of Mexico Drive

Suspicious person: Police were called after a dog walker had an unusual interaction with another man while walking through a tunnel a few days ago. The dog walker told police he had seen the man laying in the tunnel Friday night when they had a brief, cordial interaction, in which the man said he was “walking like I’m always walking” while laying down in the tunnel. The dog walker was concerned, thinking the interaction quite odd. Police kept their eyes out for the man but did not see him, and the case was closed.