crime A sampling of police calls in Gulfport from September 12 to September 16. Source: Gulfport Police Department
September 12: Explosion Shot When a Gulfport woman on the 5900 block of 30th Avenue South woke up and went out to her car, she noticed her car was breezier than it had been the day before. She found a round hole — not unlike that of a golf ball — in her shattered car window. Since she’d parked her car facing the water and the Pasadena Yacht and Country Club, it’s compelling to blame a golfer. However, police officers found no golf ball. They may be flummoxed, but we’ve seen “Christmas Vacation”; we know what happened.
worse: The night she called police, she’d seen a car she didn’t recognize parked in front of her house.
September 13: Nighty Nightmare A woman who lives on the 3000 block of 49th Street South told police she awakened to someone standing in her room. The person told her they needed money, then grabbed the woman’s purse and fled via bicycle. Right before dispatchers sent police to the woman’s home, Officer RIchard Bynum tried to stop a person riding a bike just north of the woman’s home, but the person dropped the bike and ran away. Law enforcement brought in a dog to track the suspect, but that dog didn’t hunt. Well, technically, the dog tried to hunt, but because of foul weather, it couldn’t follow the scent. Police did recover the purse, although it contained no money.
September 14: This Didn’t Happen at the Gabber, We Swear Police answered a call from a business owner on the 2900 block of Beach Boulevard South. The business owner told them that after firing a woman, she started harassing both the owners and the business on social media. And in case you worry that kids today spend all their time with their noses buried in their phones, here’s something to prove you wrong: Not content with cyberbullying, the young lady returned to the business and uprooted plants. She did replace them with rocks and shells inscribed with vulgar messages. Police reached out to the suspect, and her dad agreed to pay for the damage.
September 13: I Always Feel Like Somebody’s Watching Me A woman on the 5000 Block of Newton Avenue South called police because she received ongoing text messages from a number she didn’t recognize. While it’s election season and we’re all getting a lot of text messages from unknown numbers asking us to vote, that’s not the case here. These text messages warned the woman that she and her husband were being watched. It gets
September 14: No Honor Among Thieves A person squatting at a house on the 1100 block of 51st Street South called the police because someone stole the Duke Energy power meter off the side of the house.
September 14: We Will Buy the Kids Medicine. Call Us, Erika. When Gulfport Sergeant Mike Vandenberg confronted Erika Grant about things she’d stolen from Dollar General, she admitted to taking the things — but told him she stole the items because she needed to save money to buy her children medicine. She had two prior theft convictions, so Sgt. Vandenberg arrested her and charged her with felony theft.
September 16: Feeling Stabby A woman on the 6000 block of Pasadena Point Boulevard called the police and told them her girlfriend “was cut and bleeding.” When police
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arrived, they realized the woman had a stab wound. Her girlfriend told police she didn’t know why. Only her father and girlfriend were at home when police arrived. Emergency responders took the stab victim to the hospital. Who stabbed her? Detectives continue to investigate. September 16: Nancy Drew and the Case of the Opportunistic Burglar When the good folks on the 4400 block of 26th Avenue South saw a man trying to open multiple car doors and mailboxes and going through things on people’s front porches, did they go on Nextdoor or Facebook to complain about it? No they did not; they called the police. The police found a man who matched the eyewitness descriptions on the Skyway Trail. Witnesses confirmed that he matched the description, and police charged Matthew Charles Sanborn with three counts of attempted burglary and took him to the Pinellas County Jail. September 16: They Don’t Want You to Save That Much Gulfport Police found Oscar Jones because he took 10 bags of shrimp from Save-A-Lot, but opted not to pay, which isn’t the best choice. Police issued him a notice to appear and released him. This Just In From Our “Lock Your Stuff, People” According to Gulfport police records, Gulfportians lost $20,191 the week of September 6. What’s that, now? That’s the dollar value of items stolen from unlocked cars and houses. Sure, some of that money comes from a car stolen with the keys inside it, but do you want to read about yourself on this page? Lock up your stuff.
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