Eye on Gulfport: Rather than a traditional police blotter, GPD sent us a sampling of services the police provided in Gulfport from Oct. 30-Nov. 5.
Photo courtesy of the Gulfport Police Department
Our weekly report contains examples of calls for service we handled throughout the week. These calls resulted in a report being generated, an arrest being made, or are important for other squads to know about. It is not a full report for all calls; for a call log, please refer to Pinellas County’s Crime Viewer.
Eye on Gulfport: Oct. 30-Nov. 5 Gulfport Police Weekly Activity ReportPatrol DivisionDispatched calls for service: 104Self-Initiated calls for service: 264Incident/offense reports: 35Arrests made: 7Traffic/vessel stops: 51Parking violations: 56Ordinance violations: 23House checks: 19Look through the Eye on Gulfport’s report for Oct. 23-29.Examples of arrests or significant incidents or calls this week:
A resident cut his wrist due to being depressed over family and financial issues. Officers took him into protective custody under the Baker Act and transported him to the hospital.
A person drove his SUV into a brick wall in the middle of a parking lot. When officers began investigating the crash, they determined the driver was under the influence, and once the crash investigation was complete, they conducted a DUI (driving under the influence) investigation. The driver was arrested for DUI. Due to the crash, he had to be medically cleared at the hospital before being booked into the Pinellas County jail. The hospital medical staff determined he was bleeding internally, so he was transferred to Bradenton Medical Center for treatment.
The City of Gulfport Parks Department employees noted damage to the exterior of a shed and pipes at a city park.
An employee at a business here in Gulfport had an outstanding arrest warrant for failure to appear on a DUI charge. Officers had previously attempted to contact him, and he jumped through the drive-thru window to avoid capture. The man complained that he was in pain and needed to go to the hospital. Once he was treated and about to be released from the hospital ER, he then expressed a desire to kill himself. He was transported to ELEOS (the Pinellas County receiving facility) for a mental health evaluation; however, they did not have a bed available for him, so he was transferred to Largo Medical Center. Once he has been evaluated, he will be transported to the Pinellas County jail for the outstanding warrant.
[Read more below]How We Cover Crime
When the current owners purchased The Gabber Newspaper in 2020, they made many changes. In October 2020, they changed policies on how The Gabber Newspaper handles crime reporting. Take a look at why we made that change, and why we now run the Chief’s report as we do.
A resident reported that her ex-girlfriend (now roommate) was outside the residence, flashing her headlights in the front windows. When officers attempted to investigate, both women became confrontational and argumentative with each other and the responding officers. One of them was handcuffed and seated in the back of a patrol vehicle, as she would not stop charging at her ex-girlfriend. While walking to the patrol vehicle, she began yelling so loudly that neighbors started coming out to see what all the commotion was about. Once inside the patrol vehicle, she continued to shout, and when Officer Marston went to seatbelt her in, she intentionally struck him in the stomach with her knee. She was charged with disorderly intoxication and battery on a law enforcement officer.
A resident reported that sometime overnight, someone got into his unlocked truck and stole his son’s cell phone. The phone was tracked to the general area of an apartment complex in St. Petersburg, but was not recovered.
Two residents reported seeing a transient beating her two dogs for several minutes. They stated they could hear the dogs yelping in pain and the blows as she was striking them. This case will be forwarded to the State Attorney’s Office for potential prosecution.
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Officer Chastain contacted a boater with an outstanding warrant for failure to appear. Initially, the boater refused to come out of his cabin, but eventually he did so, and he was arrested for the outstanding warrant.
A resident reported that sometime over the last week, someone spray-painted her vehicle tag black and also got paint on her car.
A resident reported that his girlfriend got drunk and hit him with a wine bottle. She was not at the residence when officers arrived, but Officer Mincin did talk to her the next day, and she denied hitting her boyfriend with the wine bottle.
A mental health crisis team called to report that a resident contacted them and said he wanted to starve himself to death. He has a history of mental health issues. Officers spoke with him, and he declined to go to the hospital. Based on the information provided from the mental health team, whom officers spoke with, he was taken into protective custody under the Baker Act.
[Read more below]The Gabber Newspaper? We Go There
In 1968, our founder, George Brann, started The Gabber Newspaper, then called the Gulfport Gabber, to hold Gulfport City Council accountable. Read more of our city council coverage, and learn about our policies on reporting, fact-checking, and funding.
A resident invited a new friend over to his house. The new friend became aggressive, so the resident asked him to leave. The new friend bit the resident on the arm. When the responding officers got the man into custody and put him in the backseat of the patrol vehicle, he began smashing his head against the steel prisoner partition. To avoid injury to the arrestee, the officers removed him from the vehicle. That’s when the man began to fight and kicked an officer in the head. The use of a hobble restraint prevented him from hurting himself or those around him. Based on his behavior, he was transported to the hospital for an evaluation and then to the Pinellas County Jail.
A man was found sleeping on the beach after the beach had closed. During the encounter, officers discovered he possessed drug paraphernalia. He was arrested and transported to the Pinellas County Jail.
A resident was upset that his neighbor blew leaves and sticks onto his property. This has been an ongoing issue between the two. The resident asked that a trespass warning be issued to the man with the blower.
A resident with an outstanding failure-to-pay child support warrant issued by Hillsborough County was located and arrested on the warrant. He was transported to the Pinellas County Jail.
Look through the Eye on Gulfport’s report for Oct. 16-22.Look through the Eye on Gulfport’s report for Oct. 9-15.Look through the Eye on Gulfport’s report for Oct. 2-8.We’re the calm during the storm. No hype, only help!Bookmark The Gabber Newspaper‘s storm coverage page for quick access to relevant tropical storm updates. No hype, no guessing, just updates on shelters, sandbags, and closures. Sign up for text alerts to get real-time guidance and prep advice when there’s a named storm heading our way. Also, check out our downtown Gulfport and beach web cams.
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