- April 19, 2024
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Tuesday, Dec. 17
How the Grinch stole the Christmas lights
5:40 p.m. 5100 block of State Road 100. Larceny Shoplifting.
A deputy drove out to a department store after a store security officer watching surveillance video saw a man grab a store tote bag, stuff it with holiday string lights, icicle lights, gift wrapping and decorative ribbons, and then stroll out without paying.
The security officer confronted the man, who pulled out an old receipt that didn’t match the items in the pilfered sack. The totals value of the items plus tax was $105.61. The deputy arrested the suspect, served him with a notice to appear, and released him.
Yes, deputy, there are drugs in my car
11:37 p.m. 4600 block of State Road 100. Narcotics.
A deputy stopped a red Dodge Intrepid that had a tag not registered to the vehicle. The driver said he’d just bought the car and had stuck an old tag on it, and planned to register it the next day.
But the deputy thought the man looked nervous, and he was: He told the deputy he was on probation for narcotics. The deputy found a cup in the car that held the remains of a mostly-smoked marijuana joint. He asked the driver and a female passenger if there were any more drugs in the car.
The passenger said she had a “Tylenol 3” in the car, and that her grandma had given it to her for a toothache. The deputy identified the pill in her purse as an acetaminophen and hydrocodone pill — a schedule 3 controlled substance — and arrested her for possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. The pill was submitted into evidence. There wasn’t enough marijuana left to submit.
Friday, Dec. 13
Pellet gun thief
8:44 p.m. Second block of Cypress Point Parkway. Larceny shoplifting.
A deputy arrested a man at a store on Cypress Point Parkway after a store security officer noticed him place three pellet guns and assorted pellet ammo in his shopping cart and walk out without paying.
The security officer stopped the man after he’d walked out of the store with the items. The deputy arrested the thief and took him to the county jail.
The total value of the stolen pellet guns and ammunition was $470.51.
Tackle thief gets tackled
8:48 p.m. Second block of Cypress Point Parkway. Larceny shoplifting.
An asset protection officer at a local store figured something was up when he saw a man who’d been barred from the store for shoplifting walking toward an exit with fishing tackle. He checked with another store employee — who verified that the man hadn’t paid for the gear — and called the sheriff’s office.
The man, realizing he was being watched, started rummaging around in his pockets like he’d lost something, then walked back toward the sporting goods section. By the time the deputy arrived, he was heading back out the store’s sliding doors with an unpaid-for fishing pole, line and packs of hooks.
The store security officer pointed the man out to the deputy when he drove up in his patrol car, and the deputy began following the man, who started walking between cars to get away.
The deputy got out of the car and started walking toward the man, who threw the fishing pole under an SUV and started running. The deputy ordered the man to stop — to no avail — and then pulled out a Taser and fired.
The deputy missed.
Another deputy arrived in a patrol car and tried to cut the suspect off, but the man swerved away from the car and sprinted toward a chain link fence at the wood line behind the store. The first deputy caught up to the man and grabbed at him as he topped the fence, but he made it over, and the deputy followed.
The second deputy arrived and fired a Taser, hitting the man in the back. When he tried to get up, the first deputy tackled him.
The deputies handcuffed the thief, who stank of marijuana, and pulled two packets of fishing hooks, a clear jar of marijuana and a pipe with marijuana residue from his pockets.
The second deputy retrieved the fishing pole and pack of line the man had thrown under an SUV. The total value of the stolen items was $106.24. The deputies took the man to the county jail.
