Submitted by Deborah Lavery Powers
Staff Reporter
Highlights from recent narrative reports on file at the Fernandina Police Department
The Police tried. And the hotel clerk tried. But the hotel guest, who was having difficulty walking and standing — and smelled strongly of alcohol — didn’t cooperate as they tried to assist her to her room. She, instead, continued her “loud and belligerent” behavior in spite of multiple warnings to stop. What happened next? An arrest for disorderly conduct.
Eight to ten 8-mg suboxone packages disappeared from the victim’s bureau while he was at work. He thought his ex-girlfriend, who had visited his home in his absence, might have taken them. She takes the same medication. She denied any involvement. [According to opiates.com, suboxone is a “medication approved for the treatment of opiate dependence.”]
The victim put $500 in his ‘green dot money pak card’ (a reloadable debit card). Less than 30 minutes later, the victim’s money had been transferred to different green dot money pak. Hmmmmm. Perhaps the thief didn’t realize that all such transactions can be traced? The matter has been turned over to the Investigative Bureau for further action.
Our officers are frequently called upon to help citizens who are struggling — off times with what their families tell Police are “mental issues.” A recent instance involved a citizen who pleaded with a group (man/woman/child/toddler) — for three hours — to please leave her home but they didn’t depart until she had called the Police. Even after Police arrived she could still hear voices outside her window and in other rooms even though she and the officers were the only people in her home at the time. And there was no evidence that anybody else had been in the house, or broken in. Police stayed with the homeowner until her son could be located and make his way to her side. While waiting for the son, “several high power rifles, two shotguns, and three bow and arrows were located in a spare room.”
Traveling 62 mph in a 25 mph zone ranks right up there as driving pretty fast — even at 1 o’clock in the morning. But that’s how fast our suspect was going — until he crashed his car into a tree at 3rd and Elm. Reckless driving, odor of alcohol, resisting arrest, refusing breath test. He was transported to the Nassau County Jail.
He and she were arguing. And drinking. She hit him in the face while he was lying down on their hotel room bed — and he ended up with swelling and redness near his left eye. He pressed charges. She was arrested for battery.
The suspect wanted a cigarette. The 53-year-old homeless man refused to give him one. The outcome? The suspect called the victim a “red nose cracka” and punched him in the mouth before fleeing.
The truck crossed over the fog line and nearly went off the road. The driver, realizing that Police were following him, made two or three abrupt turns, then stopped in front of a driveway on a residential street — leaving his lights on and motor running! As Police approached, he zoomed his truck into the driveway, jumped out and ran. Never to be seen again until 15 hours later when he stopped by Police Headquarters asking to speak to the officer who had been following him. His stated reasons for being where he was at 3 in the morning, and then running, did not “dispel” the officer’s suspicions. The driver had to pay tow fees, and prove he had done so, before his truck was released to him from the Police impound. Charges could be pending.
Trying to sell cocaine to a bartender did not turn out as the Suspect had hoped. Long story short, he is now in the Nassau County Correctional Facility.
Dad was discovered sitting on a bench at the beach, with blood all down his shirt. The blood appeared to come from a laceration on his face. Son, when interviewed, admitted he and his father had had an argument. A witness claimed the argument ended when Son grabbed Dad by the shirt and pushed him to the ground because Dad wouldn’t give Son his cell so Son could call his girlfriend. Son was arrested for domestic battery. Police noted that Dad was very uncooperative during the investigation.
A man discovered that spitting at a woman as he walked by her outside a bar — and calling her a profane name that she didn’t appreciate — could easily lead to his being arrested for battery if the woman wanted to press charges — and a policeman was standing right nearby to do the arresting. The man also discovered he could be further charged with possession of an illegal drug if he happened to be carrying marijuana in his front pants pocket at the time he was arrested for spitting.
A review of surveillance tapes confirmed that a store employee had been stealing electronics, a few at a time, for over two months. Stealing them and then selling them on Craigslist to pay debts. How many dollars worth? About 5000.
They were throwing “closed fist” punches, pulling each other’s hair, and slapping each other in the face when the officer first observed them in action at the bar. He loudly ordered them to stop. Instead of doing so, they fell to the floor and intensified their physical altercation. When separated, both women — who said they had never met before the incident — were arrested for “affray.”
A driver discovered that his passport just didn’t do the trick when he was asked to present his driver’s license. The driver admitted to drinking several beers at various bars before being stopped by Police, but denied any knowledge of the “white powder” in a small plastic bag sitting “in plain view in the cup holder” of his car. Arrested.
A father was concerned that his underage son had been allowed to handle firearms at a local pawn shop, so he called the shop owner to complain — three times in seven days. Father told the owner he was going to report her business to the City, the Police and the State Attorney’s office. An individual in the pawn shop at the time Police were speaking to the owner reported that he knew the son, and that the incident being discussed happened at a different pawn shop. Father was told he needed to let Police handle situations he thought were illegal. Father agreed to stop calling the pawn shop owner but added he planned to submit a report at a later date regarding the alleged incident – and was given a form to do so at his request.
The man on a white bicycle knew it was illegal to carry a concealed weapon without a permit, but he did so, anyway. A fully loaded .22 caliber revolver. For protection when riding his bike. He went to jail.
February 25, 2013 9:08 a.m.