HOT WIRED:
Police responded to a residence on Cord Street N. in Tampa after a report of a hit and run accident. Upon arrival, cops found the suspect vehicle, a green and white Ford extended cab pickup with a tow-truck rear boom, abandoned on the street with the driver's side door wide open and the engine still running. A quick inspection inside the truck revealed the ignition switch had been "punched" and was missing, and two bottles of Heineken had been left behind during the hasty escape. Police contacted the owner of the truck, who stated that the truck (his work vehicle) had been stolen. However, the missing ignition switch was not a result of the theft. Per the report: "He lost the keys to the truck some time ago … and broke the ignition off to allow the use of the truck. He added that many people in the neighborhood know about the truck with no ignition lock. He suspects a few people…" Next time, I bet he'll use the club.
SMOOTH CRIMINAL:
A security officer at K-Mart watched a suspicious juvenile go into the store's electronics department. The computer-savvy young shopper took a "wireless Broadcast Blaster" off the shelf and opened up the packaging, shoving its contents into his front pocket and hiding the empty box back on the shelf. His crime committed, the thief calmly made his way toward the store's exit. Per the report, "As he walked to the front of the store he acted all cool and even spoke to other K-Mart associates before trying to exit the store without paying for the item." The juvenile was detained in the store until police could arrive. Total value of the "wireless Broadcast Blaster": $19.99.
IT'S ELECTRIC:
During a narcotics investigation in Tampa, an officer observed a "coaxial cable strung out a side window of the defendant's residence." The cable ran across the yard of the suspect, across the neighboring yard and into the adjacent N. 13th Street residence. The cable, which was wired into a power box in the vacant house, was feeding electricity back to the suspect. The owner of the vacant house stated he never gave the suspect permission to use his electric power and he wishes to prosecute.
CALL ME:
A student at Wilson Middle School forgot a binder containing his cellphone in the gym locker room. A short time later the student realized his mistake, retuned to the locker room, and located his binder, now sans phone. The student informed his parents of the theft, and his father promptly called the phone, discovering "that the message on his voice mail was changed." Police investigation revealed that the phone had been used to call eight numbers, several of them "adult phone businesses."
From the files of the T.P.D.
This article appears in Jan 11-17, 2006.