A sampling of police reports from July 23 to 29 in Gulfport.
Source: Gulfport Police Department
We have GOT to try this coffee
July 23: Gulfport police responded to a call to deal with a man who entered a store on the 5100 block of Gulfport Boulevard South. Seems like a store would want customers, but not in this case: GPD had already trespassed the man once. The man told Officer Edward Pope he knew the police had trespassed him once before, but he wanted a coffee. Police arrested him and took him to the Pinellas County Jail. No word on whether or not he got his coffee.
Who was that unmasked woman?
July 23: On the 5000 block of Gulfport Boulevard South, police responded to a call about a woman refusing to wear a mask inside the store. When the store manager asked her to don a mask, she reportedly grew “disorderly.” By the time officers arrived on scene, the woman had started to cause a scene and the manager asked that they trespass her. At this point, she left the property, presumably still not wearing a mask.
Our boat’s faster than your breast stroke
Gulfport’s marine unit helped the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office catch a suspect who thought the best way to evade arrest was to dive into the refreshing waters of Boca Ciega Bay and make a swim for it. Once the police boat caught him, he refused to get on the vessel. Gulfport PD helped complete the arrest, presumably on board the boat.
Spoiler alert: Police arrested him
July 25: At the 5000 block of Gulfport Boulevard South, Gulfport Police tried to question a man suspected of “causing a disruption” and shoplifting, but the suspect wasn’t having it. He kept walking and running away, and although police told him they’d arrest him if he kept doing that while they conducted their investigation, he did not listen. Police arrested him, but the fun didn’t stop there, because the man refused to tell them who he was. Solution? Police called in a Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office deputy who had a fingerprint scanner handy. Police used that to identify the man, who got a courtesy ride to the Pinellas County Jail.
Ankle bracelet left behind by teenager
July 25: On the 2000 block of Gray Street South, a minor offender (that’s a juvenile under 18, not someone who only broke the law a little bit) who had an ankle bracelet on as part of the Habitual Offender Monitoring Enforcement program removed the bracelet and climbed out his bedroom window. The HOME program forbids this. At press time, police had not located him.
Stolen things
July 27: Someone called the Gulfport police and told them someone had parked a stolen motorcycle on the 5000 block of Newton Avenue South. GPD saw the bike, confirmed it was, indeed, stolen, and returned it to the owner.
July 29: A Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputy recovered a Gulfport stolen vehicle on the 4400 block of 34th Street North. They arrested the driver for grand theft auto.
The Family Dollar in more ways than one
July 29: A Gulfport resident told police she’d inadvertently left her phone at the Family Dollar. Someone swiped it, she said, and reported that they’d used her bank app to take $600 from her bank account.
More stolen things?
July 29: A boater told police she’d tied her gray dinghy at the Casino dock, but that it had disappeared. Police say it could have broken free, but also someone could have stolen it. The dinghy had an outboard motor, also missing.
Battery with a traffic cone
July 27: On July 27, a young Gulfportian told police a group of people had attacked him with a traffic cone near 50th Street and Tangerine Avenue South. When questioned, both the number of attackers and location of the attack changed a few times. The child’s mother told police her son “was having a ‘beef’ with someone in Gulfport” but added “it had been handled” a few weeks back. The child couldn’t give police a description of his attackers and also told the police he wouldn’t be able to identify him.
Front porch time bandits
July 29: A resident called the police because she was expecting a package and had received an email that it had been delivered, but, alas, no packages awaited her on her porch. GPD read the email and determined it stated that the package had arrived the day before.
