Know Your Limits: Cops running a prostitution sting on N. Nebraska Avenue in Tampa got a bonus when they discovered a crack pipe on the man they were arresting. After his rights were read to him, the suspect opened up to the officers, admitting that he had been smoking crack since 8 p.m. the previous night. According to police, "he further stated that the only reason we got him was because he has a bad drug habit." Well, maybe not the only reason.
Crime Doesn't Pay: A thief broke into a car parked on a driveway off 17th Avenue N. in St. Petersburg. After damaging the locking cylinder and attempting to pry open the upper doorframe, the suspect finally smashed a "rear passenger vent window" to gain access to the car. For all of this effort, the thief made off with two $1 bills that were sitting in the ashtray. What does that break down to per hour?
Always Stay In The Car! A woman driving her boyfriend home had a disturbing encounter while stopped at a traffic light on Fowler Avenue. A car pulled up on the driver's side of the woman's car, and a man got out and began yelling at her and punching her car. Per the report, the woman had no idea why this was occurring and could not make out what the man was saying because she was too busy trying to ignore him. Rather then encourage her to speed away, the woman's boyfriend decided to take action by exiting the vehicle and confronting the agitated stranger. Bad call. The man quickly went from pounding the hood of the car to pounding the boyfriend's face. Luckily, police happened to be on the scene at the time of the incident and arrested the crazed man before he could cause serious harm.
Due Diligence: A disgruntled St. Petersburg woman contacted police to file a complaint against her television repairman. The woman gave the repairman a portable DVD player to fix, and he has not returned it despite making promises to do so. The woman filing the complaint was a little short on information, however. She had the man's phone number, but she had no idea what the repairman's name was, what his business was called or where it was located.
Always A Gentleman: A man involved in an accident on Westshore Boulevard in Tampa had a novel rationalization for his decision to run from the scene. Once police were able to track the man down, he admitted that he had fled because his license was not valid. "He said he was very sorry," the officer wrote, "but he made sure the other driver was not hurt prior to fleeing the scene." Oh, well in that case…
Taken from the files of S.P.P.D & T.P.D.
This article appears in Jun 15-21, 2005.
