TAXI DRIVER: This case took place outside of the Green Iguana bar/nightclub on Westshore Boulevard in Tampa. According to the police incident log, the "victim" was a driver for United Cab who was called to pick up a fare. The "victim" picked up the "suspect," but as they were leaving the parking lot, "the suspect told [the driver] to just pull over, he would drive home." The cabbie pulled around the building, stopped the car and informed his passenger that he owed $2. Things heated up as both men exited the cab and "the suspect swung at the victim and missed." Now things get confusing: "The suspect had the victim pinned against the car, so the victim hit him one time in the face." Score one for the cabbie. "The suspect then tackled him to the ground and started kicking him." Seems like the passenger has the upper hand, right? The next line reads: "The suspect passed out. When he awoke he was missing $110 from his pants pocket." How does someone go from kicking some guy's ass to asleep and robbed in a matter of seconds? On the plus side: At least this guy didn't drive himself home.
HOW STUPID ARE YOU? Two cops parked their marked cars at the HoHo to Go on W. Columbus Drive in Tampa, "on the west side of the restaurant under street lights." The officers had just received their food when they noticed a man "using bolt cutters to cut the radio antennas off the trunks [of their] marked units." A short foot chase ensued, with the cops quickly nabbing their man, who was charged with two counts of criminal mischief and one count of open container (an English Bull beer). No suitable explanation is contained within the report. Could there possibly be one, anyway?
THIS WEEK IN BOMB SCARES: Well, not this week. The week of Oct. 2-8, police received reports of two interesting bomb threats, both of which turned out to be nothing. The first was on Oct. 4, when someone reported a bomb at Memorial Middle School. Neither a search of the school or the investigation into the reporting phone number turned up anything. The second threat was called in on Oct. 7, this time to a customer service rep who worked at Time Customer Service on University Center Drive. The rep reported an unknown caller "from a number that said 'Time Canada'" told her there was a bomb in the building and it was going to blow. Police found no evidence of explosives or tricky Canadians.
From the files of the T.P.D.
