Resort guest annoyed by sunset bagpipe serenade

Wednesday, May 13

Brotherly lover

6:44 p.m., 2800 block of Dixie Avenue

Fight: A pair of sisters were fighting with a third woman outside near the intersection of Gillespie Avenue and Dr. MLK Jr. Way when officers arrived and managed to separate the combatants.

One of the officers interviewed the third woman while another spoke with the sisters. The third woman reported she was sprayed with mace but wasn’t certain which of the two sisters sprayed her. Other than that she wasn’t interested in cooperating with the officers. Her clothes were slightly ripped, but she otherwise showed no visible evidence of injury.

The sisters, meanwhile, were still acting in an aggressive manner and were yelling at her from across the street. Sister A (her name did begin with the letter A) was also uncooperative. Sister B (her name also began with B) was somewhat cooperative, but according to the incident report, “was still more focused on instigating a fight with” the third woman.

The altercation appeared to stem from a dispute about a relationship between the third woman and a man who is alleged to be the sisters’ brother. Sister B added she was pregnant and requested EMS response to evaluate her. 

Based on the mutual combatant nature of the conflict, it was determined that there was no probable cause to make an arrest and no further action was taken.

Sunday, May 17

Holy water break

10:10 a.m., 1800 block of Gillespie Avenue

Property damage: A church member reported an unknown subject had pulled a copper water pipe out of the ground, resulting in water discharging into the street. An officer observed the area where the pipe was located, where it appeared the excavation caused a PVC pipe connected to it to break. 

The officer alerted the city utilities department to respond and turn off the water. The area was canvassed in an attempt to locate surveillance cameras that may have captured the incident, but to no avail. 

Wednesday, May 20

Piping hot temper

9:50 p.m., 2100  block of Benjamin Franklin Drive

Dispute: Diverse tastes in music were at the root of a dispute between two male guests of a Lido Beach resort. An officer was told by one of the verbal combatants the argument began when the other party was in the main courtyard of the resort listening to music when he arrived to serenade the sunset  … on his bagpipes. The bagpipe lullaby, the officer was advised by the front desk clerk, is something the man does nightly for a brief period of time.

That's when the man listening to an undisclosed genre of music began yelling at the bagpiper for disrupting his own listening pleasure. After the bagpiper returned to his room, the other man knocked on his door and threatened litigation. He closed the door and contacted law enforcement.

Both responding officers spoked with the would-be litigant in his room, which he shared with his wife and granddaughter. According to the incident report, the man appeared to be intoxicated. He told officers he believed the bagpiper was intentionally attempting to annoy him for playing his music too loudly.

Speaking with the piper, officers were informed he was not bothered by the other man’s music and was going to play his bagpipes in another area. He said the man told him about how much he was paying to stay at the resort and his threat to sue was based on the loss of ease of enjoyment of the otherwise serene environment — himself playing amplified music in a common space notwithstanding.

Both men were advised to avoid each other for the remainder of their stay, and no further action was taken.