Submitted by Deborah Lavery Powers
Highlights from some of the narrative police reports on file at the Fernandina Police Department through January 7.
An elderly person, suffering from dementia, called 911 because she thought she was being held against her will. The Police, once at her home, were told her condition had taken a “drastic downward spiral” over the previous few days and she had been refusing to take her prescribed medications, as well. She appeared disoriented and weak. Police and Fire/Rescue encouraged the patient to go to the ER voluntarily because they felt the medications she was refusing to take were vital to her life. When the facts were explained to her, she agreed to take her pills and to go to the ER. She didn’t want to hurt herself.
A woman reported that an unknown person had entered her apartment while she was asleep and struck her. Police reported that she had a large contusion and a small laceration over her left eye. And there was a small table turned over near the kitchen. But there were no signs of forcible entry. Nor any suspect on the premises. Nor any evidence of a crime. Subject couldn’t walk without assistance, and told Police she had consumed a pint of vodka before she went to sleep. Fire/Rescue took her to the ER.
A housekeeper stepped out of the room he was cleaning for a moment to get more supplies. When he returned to the room, the door was locked from the inside and the occupants wouldn’t let him in. And they spewed profanity at him when he called the room. They wouldn’t even acknowledge him when he went into the courtyard and knocked on the window from the outside — even though they were clearly visible to him. The Police were called. Entry was made into the room with the hotel’s master key. The “highly belligerent and uncooperative” occupants said they had keys to the room. They didn’t. But they did have keys to two other rooms. They were allowed to put their clothes on and search for their identification in the other rooms. No ID was found in either room. And none was found in the man’s car. By this time, the belligerence, yelling and profanity were causing a disturbance in the hotel. The subjects were arrested. The man’s identification was later found under the stove in one of the rooms — but not inside the one in which he and his female friend had locked themselves.
A set of golf clubs was reported stolen from the trunk of an automobile during the time it took the owner to step out of his car, go into the clubhouse, check-in, and come back out again. The owner feels that the thief must have opened the driver’s door (perhaps unlocked), flipped the trunk switch from inside, and then gone around to the rear of the car and removed the clubs. Value? $2000.
A man in a red hat walked out of a downtown bar without paying for his food or beer. An employee chased him down the street for more than a block and confronted him about his tab. He admitted he had left without paying. He also admitted that he didn’t have any money on him. The man in red was arrested for theft and disorderly intoxication.
Someone broke into a locked automobile, but didn’t take anything even though there were several items of worth in the car. The owner of the vehicle, a hunter, thinks that the burglar-who-stole-nothing might have been looking for guns in the car.
A patron at a downtown bar accused the bartender of not returning his credit card. When the bartender explained that he had, the patron went “charging” behind the bar. Aggressively. Security staff interceded but one of the staff was struck by the patron’s closed fist in the process. The patron was put under arrest for assault and disorderly intoxication. The credit card? It was found in the pants pocket of the arrested patron.
Editor’s Note: After a career in adult education, where writing, course design and development were her “beat”, Deborah is now enjoying the world of freelancing. And volunteering. We thank Deborah for her contributions.
January 13, 2013 12:44 p.m.