The Lake Sarasota Community Blog

  There were a total of eight incidents, up from three in June.  I attribute this to school vacation time--young people with time on their hands and mischief on their minds.   There were two incidents of vandalism, two burglaries, three thefts, and two juvenile disturbances.  Vandalism and juvenile disturbances are more typical of young people than career criminals.  Therefore, four incidents are more typical of criminal behavior, and actual crime increased by one.   The two vandalism incidents occurred at the following times and locations:               7/2    Reported  3:29 p.m.   4114 Westminster             7/8    Reported  4:01 p.m.   3934 Wake   The burglaries occurred at the following times and locations:     ...

Ted sends along the April crime report: The April 2014 Sheriff's Dept. crime report shows a sharp increase in criminal activity compared to previous months. I've been afraid that something like this would happen. There were a total of 13 incidents in April, compared to five or less over previous months. There were two acts of vandalism, five burglaries, and six thefts (auto and building). The two acts of vandalism occurred at 4129 Wake (Sat. Apr. 19, reported 9:54 p.m.) and 6809 Jarvis Road (Tues. Apr. 29, reported 5:33 p.m.). Four burglaries occurred Wed. Apr. 9 at the following addresses: 7226 Rangi (reported 2:49 p.m.), 4222 Palau (reported 4:34 p.m.), 3957 Palau (reported 5:09 p.m.), and 4085 Hina (reported 7:00 p.m.). A fifth burglary occurred Fri. Apr. 18 at 4163 Palau (reported 5:04 p.m.). Two thefts occurred Sun. Apr. 6 at the following addresses: 4006 Hina (reported 12:20 p.m.) and at 4100 Westminster (reported 12:19 p.m.). Tues. Apr. 15 a theft occurred at 4192 L...

From Ted: The June 2013 crime report shows a sharp increase of incidents compared to May 2013.  There is a "however", though. The crime report lists the following:  four vandanism incidents, one burglary, five thefts (auto contents or unknown), and two juvenile disturbances, for a total of twelve incidents. Now, for the "however".  There are two reports of vandalism and one repoted theft for the same address (4060 Palau Drive).  The theft and one incident of vandalism were reported on the 27th at  5:34 p.m. and 7:26 p.m.   A second incident of vandalism was reported at  12:13 a.m.  on the 28th.  I suspect that this was all one incident, but the homeowner reported one act of vandalism on discovery, then the theft when noticed several hours later; then the second act of vandalism when inspecting the original damage and theft. The two juvenile disturbances occurred on the west side of Lake Sarasota, on Honolulu and Waikiki on  June 3 ,...

Ted sent this report: Here is the synopsis of the Sheriff's Dept. report for March.  There were a total of seven incidents as follows:  Vandalism: 4006 Hina Dr. (3/18, 7:19 p.m.) (Monday) 7316 Mauna Loa Dr. (3/24, 2:17 p.m.) (Sunday) Burglary: 6254 Kahana Dr. (3/8, 11:43 a.m.) (Friday) 7051 Jarvis Rd. (3/22, 11:58 a.m.) (Friday) Theft (all auto): 3967 Eton Pl. (3/1, 7:10 p.m.) (Friday) 4117 Lancaster Dr. (3/26, 8:30 a.m.) (Tuesday) 4117 Lancaster Dr. (3/27, 3:20 p.m.) (Wednesday) Analysis: Six incidents occurred in the east section of Lake Sarasota, centering on Middlesex Pl. One incident occurred in the west section, on Kahana Dr.  This coincides with previous incidents over past years--most incidents occur in a east central "corridor." Also, the pattern of dates holds--most incidents occur in the first week or last week of the month. Times reported also fit the pattern experienced over the past several years--noon to...

Here's the latest data from the Sheriff, with Ted's analysis of an interesting pattern: Here's the Feb. 2012 Crime Report for Lake Sarasota: . Note that I'm using a different format to highlight the concentration of activity on the First of the month.                               Time Reported                    Location THEFTS Wed. Feb. 1                                                                            12:41 a.m.                6738 Brentford Rd.           ...

Ted sends this analysis of the Sheriff's crime report: Here is the breakdown on the Sheriff's Dept. Crime Report for Lake Sarasota for Dec. 2011. Total Number of Incidents:  11 Vandalism:  0 Burglaries:   7 Thefts:        4 Juvenile Disturbances:  0 Incidents by day of the week:   Sunday:        2                                               Monday:        1                                          ...

Two reports of burglar activity came in over the weekend. In one case, a man was spotted crawling into a garage that had its door open. The homeowner said: Just want to alert everyone that this happened - in the bright light of the day, while we were all home.  And, I have a window in my door from the house to the garage - which is probably why he was crawling.  My garage door will now stay shut.     I never saw his face, but from his size, body and clothing, my best guess is he appeared to be anywhere from 15-20 years old??  He was wearing tan colored shorts (to about his knees) and a white tank top and sneakers. In the second report, the burglar(s) came through a small window (cutting the screen) on the screened porch facing the street, and seems to have had plenty of time to go through the home, leaving no fingerprints. The owner says: It was such a beautiful day to open the windows and let that great breeze in yesterday.I do not share this story with you to scare you as I will n...

Some new information from Ted Cover, who still needs volunteers for the Citizens Patrol ( contact him here ): I've just received the October 2008 Crime Report for Lake Sarasota from the Sheriff's Dept.   There was an alarming increase in theft -- probably a symptom of economic hard times:  Twenty-two were reported -- most of them within the span of three days: Palau and Jarvis both had four incidents.  Java, Brentford, Lago , and Mauna Loa had two incidents each.  Paota , Lancaster, Hina, Rangi , and Honolulu each had one incident.  Most of the thefts occurred between Oct. 12 and 14.   I encourage everyone to keep garage doors closed as much as possible.  Keep car doors locked when parked in the front yard or street.  Don't make it easy for the thieves.  If we make it difficult for them, we discourage them.   Ted Cover Citizens Patrol