The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) handled the following incidents in Lakeland during the first half of October. See next week’s issue for the remaining October incidents.
Editor’s note: All suspects are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, and values are estimated for stolen/damaged items. These are brief summaries of detailed SCSO reports.
Oct. 1
Champions Drive (theft of vehicle parts/accessories)
A man reported Oct. 1 that someone had stolen the tires and wheels from his Infiniti G37 and broke the passenger front window. He parked the car in front of his apartment around 9 p.m. the previous evening.
The responding officer also found a CD case containing rap CDs across from where the vehicle was parked and believes it may belong to the suspect.
Oct. 2
Canada Road/Green Spruce Drive (misdemeanor drugs/narcotics violation)
An officer found a female driver acting bizarrely just before 11 p.m. Oct. 2 near the intersection of Canada Road and Green Spruce Drive.
The vehicle was parked in the middle of Green Spruce with its hazard lights on, impeding traffic. The woman seemed distraught and had a pile of cash on her dashboard. She said she was lost and her phone had died, so she couldn’t find her way to her stepmother’s home.
Two more officers arrived and questioned her about possible drug use. She confessed to using methamphetamine for the past three days and having a “little bit of weed” in her pocket. Deputies found a clear bag of presumed marijuana in her right pocket. It was later confirmed and weighed in at 4.7 grams.
They arrested her for possession of a controlled substance and retrieved the cash ($237) from her dashboard per her request. Her Mitsubishi Lancer was towed by Blues City Towing.
Oct. 3
U.S. 64/Rock Creek Parkway (misdemeanor drugs/narcotics violation)
An officer pulled over a westbound driver with one passenger on U.S. 64 who seemed to be driving without using a seatbelt around 2 a.m. Oct. 3. He actually did have his seat belt buckled, but the officer detected the strong odor of smoked marijuana coming from the vehicle.
The driver admitted there were drugs in the car. The passenger said he had a small amount of marijuana in his wallet, and the officer found a small clear bag with apparent marijuana inside.
A black backpack on the passenger-side floorboard contained five glass pipes, an Elements rolling machine and a 50-count pack of Elements rolling papers. The passenger said the backpack and its contents belonged to him. The officer confiscated the bag and drug paraphernalia, issued him a misdemeanor citation and released him at the scene.
The bag’s contents tested positive as marijuana and weighed in at 0.6 total gram weight.
Oct. 11
Davies Plantation East (theft from motor vehicle)
A customer at Cracker Barrel (9649 Davies Plantation East) reported Oct. 11 that someone broke into his vehicle between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. He parked his Honda Odyssey on the east side of the lot and returned to find the driver’s side rear window shattered and luggage stolen.
A surveillance video showed a silver car backing into the parking space on that side of the victim’s minivan at 2:26 p.m., and a suspect moved between the vehicles multiple times and then left, headed northbound.
Oct. 13
Dropseed Circle (other larceny/commercial construction)
A man reported the theft of an Essick mortar mixer from a construction site between 6 p.m. Oct. 12 and 7:40 a.m. Oct. 13. The equipment’s serial number was entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.
Richelieu Road (felony vandalism)
On Oct. 13, a female victim reported extensive vandalism at her home on the 9000 block of Richelieu Road. She left around 5 p.m. Oct. 8 and returned around 7 p.m. Oct. 12, when she found that a male friend’s property left at her home had been damaged.
Both tires of a Carry-On Corporation utility trailer in the driveway were slashed, and a Kawasaki Mule in the garage had all four tires slashed, headlights shattered, the upholstery cut and the ignition damaged. Two doors belonging to a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air were in the garage, and their interior leather had many cuts. A Cub Cadet mower in the backyard had a slashed rear left tire.
The victim said she is separated from her husband, the primary suspect, who has gotten much angrier as the divorce gets closer to finalization. She said that only she, her 14-year-old son and the suspect had access to the residence. Access requires a key, the security system access code, the garage door opener or code, and the code to her subdivision’s gate. There was no sign of forced entry.
She said she will contact the security company and homeowner’s association to find which codes were used to enter the home and the subdivision.
Oct. 14
Champions Drive (false pretenses/swindle/confidence game)
A woman reported on Oct. 14 that she was scammed on pet insurance costs when she tried to buy a Yorkie puppy for sale online at Pet Express Transportation and Services.
She found the puppy online on Oct. 12, exchanged texts with someone from the website and paid $500 via Western Union for the puppy and its delivery. The Yorkie was to arrive from Texas via American Airlines, but the seller next said the puppy had missed its flight due to lack of required “pet insurance” documentation. That added $1,750 to the total, and the victim sent it via Western Union later that day.
When she realized she could be the victim of a scam, she tried to get her money refunded by Western Union. The company required a law enforcement report for their investigation and possible refund of her money.
U.S. 64 (theft from motor vehicle)
Someone stole a man’s backpack and two insulin pens from his Toyota Corolla while he was working at Papa John’s Pizza (9160 U.S. 64) on Oct. 14. The backpack contained a pair of Rude Jeans, an insulin meter and an electronic cigarette.
The car was unlocked, and there were no signs of forced entry. The incident happened between 4:45 p.m. and 10:22 p.m.
Oct. 15
Stewart Road (theft from building)
A woman reported Oct. 15 that someone had stolen several items from her home while it was being renovated. Around 9 a.m. Oct. 8, she noticed that six store credit cards were missing from the powder box on her dresser in the master bedroom. She cancelled the cards before someone could make unauthorized charges.
On Oct. 14, she noticed around 9 p.m. that 10 rings were missing from a jewelry chest and six watches from the top of her dresser, all in the master bedroom. She found several items out of place in her closet as well.
She said only two people had access to the home during the time the items went missing, and they were the two contractors who were replacing the floor. She had closed her bedroom door and left the home during the day while they worked. The bedroom floor wasn’t being replaced, and they should not have entered the bedroom, she said.
A crime scene technician lifted several latent fingerprints from the mirror doors to the master bedroom closet.
Woodland Pine Cove (false pretenses/ swindle/confidence game)
A Lakeland man reported on Oct. 15 he had given a friend money to buy an investment house, but the friend never provided the house or refunded the money. He said he signed a contract with the man, who is a real estate agent.
His payments to the agent were in five checks issued between April 26, 2013 and Oct. 29, 2013, totalling $12,911.
He asked the agent to return the money multiple times in person and via phone, but all he got were two checks from the agent’s real estate company, totalling $2,269. The agent asked him not to cash them, and the victim did not.
The victim also said he believes the agent had a similar case against him for taking money and not returning it.
Green Spruce Drive (theft from building)
A woman reported several medications were stolen during a move out of her Green Spruce Drive home on Oct. 7.
Two days after the move, she realized that her Aricept, Clonazapam, Cymbalta, Lunesta, Namenda and Provigil medications were missing. She checked both homes but didn’t find the medicine. She suspects that one of the movers took the items.
Oct. 16
Conifer View Lane (theft from building)
A woman reported on Oct. 16 that she noticed several pieces of jewelry were missing from her bedroom’s dresser drawer on Oct. 10.
Items included five rings, eight necklaces, six pairs of earrings and three bracelets inside a floral bag that was in the top dresser drawer ($8,400).
She last viewed the jewelry on Dec. 26, 2014, when she put away jewelry received as Christmas gifts. She said there has been no sign of forced entry to her home.
Since then, multiple people have been inside her home, including three cleaning workers.
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