OPEN CONTAINER ROUND UP: Frequent readers of this column know that if you're standing around drinking on the streets of Tampa Bay, chances are you have a Natural Light in your hand. Tastes do change, however. Sometimes it's a slow evolution, like the man busted at 22nd Street N. and 17th Avenue E. with a 32-ounce bottle of Natural Ice. Natty Ice is still in the Natural family. (Incidentally, this guy was taken into custody when a background check revealed he was an unregistered sex-offender. The man protested, saying he was "advised by the judge that he did not need to register." Uh-huh.) Less typical was the man busted on E. Bougainvillea in Tampa with a "Smirnoff Malt beverage." This guy produced a Michigan ID card, which helps to explain his deviation from local customs. And speaking of malt liquor, a man was picked up just off Busch Boulevard in Tampa drinking a 30-ounce bottle of Schlitz Malt Liquor. Works every time.
THE AGONY AND THE ... A confidential police informant made a phone call to a drug dealer and ordered 200 ecstasy pills at the asking price of $10 each. Police met the 30-year-old female dealer in a Tampa apartment complex parking lot, where the deal was struck and the woman was taken into custody. The pills, wrapped in a brown paper bag, were recovered from nearby shrubbery. After telling the officers where the pills were, the defendant also told police that she had been nervous about the deal. Per the report, "She advised that she 'had a feeling' that something was wrong and thought several times about calling off the deal."
WALLET WATCH PART ONE: An officer patrolling N. Franklin Street in Tampa was flagged down by a woman who wanted to report a theft. The woman, whom the officer describes in his report as a "homeless" person who, "sleeps on the streets of the downtown area," reported that someone had stolen her wallet while she was napping in a nearby parking lot. The woman reported her wallet contained ID, social security and insurance cards; pictures; and $700 in cash. Shockingly, police have no leads at this time.
WALLET WATCH PART TWO: A Tampa man reported to police that his teenage daughter had stolen money from him. The man, whose daughter had stolen from him "many times in the past," hid the wallet containing "several thousand dollars in cash," in the top drawer of his dresser underneath some clothes. Despite the ultra-secure hiding spot, the daughter found the wallet, removed a thousand bucks and beat a hasty retreat from the residence. Those precocious teens.
From the files of the T.P.D.
