Sept. 29, 2:55 P.M.: Some time between 9 p.m. Sept. 28, when our 51-year-old complainant closed the Azalea Park Little League concession stand on North Carol Avenue, and 2 p.m. Sept. 29, when she returned to reopen it, unknown suspect(s) ravaged the establishment. Officer Adams arrived to scrutinize the scene. His investigation revealed that the unknown suspect(s) "used a hacksaw to cut through the chain and open the metal gate. The person(s) then used a piece of metal to pry the door off its hinges to gain entry into the concession stand," reports state. It appears the suspect(s) took off with the $35 lock and the $10 chain, because they were not at the site; estimated damage to the door is $500.
Due to the maliciousness of this heinous crime, a crime scene technician was dispatched to investigate. He checked for latent prints and retrieved fingerprints from the door and the hacksaw that was left behind. The complainant told police that she did not authorize anyone to force the door open and she wanted to prosecute and would testify in court, reports say. The case was forwarded to investigators.
So what did the perp(s) steal? According to police, "Once inside the concession stand, the unknown person(s) removed approximately $5 worth of miscellaneous candy."
Oct. 1, 4:18 A.M.: Officer Candelaria was dispatched to the 2400 block of East Colonial Drive in reference to a commercial burglary. Orlando Police Department headquarters received a pay-phone call from a 40-year-old witness who reported seeing broken glass and suspicious activity. The witness, a transient, told the officer that as he was walking around the parking lot of a bank he saw what looked like a white two-door Hyundai Sonata pull up to the establishment, a grocery store. He saw a white male emerge from the vehicle, but then the man turned around, got back in his car and drove away, so the witness figured the car was not involved. OPD ran a K-9 through the store, but there was no trace of a suspect.
This is a big grocery chain. One would suspect they'd have an alarm to prevent this very sort of incident. Officer Candelaria's report indicates that, indeed, there was an alarm. But no one was paying attention to it. According to the report, "Headquarters advised this officer that they attempted to locate a responder via the alarm monitoring service but they were informed that the alarm to the business was no longer being monitored." D'oh!
The store manager told OPD he found that 12 cartons of Salem cigarettes, valued at $365.88, had been stolen. There also appeared to be $500 in damage to the two glass doors that were broken.
Oct. 1, 8:51 P.M.: Our next case begins with three juvenile victims, who were walking around the 5000 block of Millenia Boulevard when two "unknown black male juvenile suspects approached them from the rear," reports state. The taller of the two suspects reached for 14-year-old victim No. 1's Nintendo DS, but was unsuccessful. This spurred our victim to stuff the portable gaming system into his pocket. The suspect tried again to jack the victim's DS and again was unsuccessful. One might think the suspect would move on to an easier target. Apparently not.
The two suspects kept following the three kids until the taller suspect pushed victim No. 1 to the ground — which scraped his right arm — and tried to jack the kid's DS again! Third time's the charm, right? Wrong. Fourteen-year-old victim No. 2 told the suspects to stop. Undeterred, the suspects reached for victim No. 2's plastic bag filled with unknown personal effects. The baggie ripped, spilling the contents to the ground. Unsettled, the suspects fled the scene.
Officer Realin arrived on the scene and conducted an area search, to no avail. The victims assured the officer that they didn't give the perps permission to hassle them and they want to prosecute if the suspects are found; they added that they can identify the suspects. "`A` photo of `victim No. 1's` injury was taken and submitted into OPD evidence," the police report states. Police Beat would like to commend the young victims for a tenacious defense of their gaming system.
Oct. 2, 7:43 A.M.: Officer Allison responded to a residential burglary complaint in the 300 block of South Lawsona Boulevard and met with our 56-year-old victim. Some time between 8 p.m. Oct. 1 and 7:15 a.m. Oct. 2, when the victim's husband left for work, unknown suspect(s) broke into her vehicle. The suspect(s) smashed her rear window, opened the rear door, then reached up and unlocked the front door. Then the suspect(s) pilfered.
The results of the smash-and-grab? "The suspect(s) then removed the instrument panel located in the center of the dash. The suspect took the entire instrument panel including the climate control, the hazard button, the clock and an Alpine AM/FM CD player," the report states. Whoa! The whole friggin' dashboard?
The officer checked for fingerprints, but found none, leading the officer to conclude the perp(s) wore gloves. No worries; that $600 instrument panel will only fit certain vehicles, so that should narrow the search. Where the $400 Alpine will end up is anyone's guess.
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