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Highlands Today

Law enforcement also has its lighter side

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By BRAD DICKERSON

Highlands Today

Published: July 15, 2009

SEBRING - A traffic stop or an arrest for shoplifting could be considered normal law enforcement duties.

An alligator getting loose in the trunk of a police cruiser? Not so much.

The majority of police officers and sheriff's deputies who have spent enough time on the force will witness their fair share of wacky and memorable moments.

Highlands County authorities are no different. Here are some of their favorites.

Wildlife makes for wild police duty

Now, back to the alligator.

The Sebring Police Department has dealt with calls referencing everything from wild hogs on the road to chickens attacking residents at the mailbox.

Lt. Andrew Markham once caught a four-foot alligator and taped the reptile up before putting it in his trunk for the trip to Veterans Beach.

The beast did not go quietly.

"The tape was old and it (alligator) got loose inside of my trunk and it took me about a month to straighten out my trunk again, not to mention having to get him back out now that he was loose," Markham recalled.

His trick in recapturing the gator was putting a shirt over the reptile's face so it couldn't see him when he dove on its back.

Consider it a lesson learned.

"Confucius says, 'If you're going to tape up a gator, make sure your tape is in good shape," Markham said.

DUI times two

Lake Placid Police Det. James Fansler remembered heading home at the end of a shift five years ago when he saw a fellow officer citing someone for driving under the influence.

Instead of continuing home, Fansler stopped to offer backup. At that point, he saw a truck slowly pass by before stopping beside the officers. A woman, who turned out to be a friend of the intoxicated motorist, wanted to know what was going on.

She too was in no condition to be driving.

"They field (sobriety tested) her and, sure enough, she was wasted," Fansler said.

It took three officers to subdue the woman, who put up a struggle before being taken into custody. One of the men was kicked in the groin, according to Fansler.

"She was tough," he said.

To make matters even more difficult, the woman left a scared, handicapped sister in the truck. The officers had to take her back to her Lorida home after arresting the drunken woman.

Fansler said they learned about the handicapped girl because she let out a shriek that sounded like, "a falcon coming out of the sky."

How not to make a Molotov cocktail

In May, Lonnie Rose, 37, of Sebring, was arrested after allegedly trying to burn a house where his soon-to-be ex-wife was staying, according to Avon Park Police Chief Matt Doughney.

Officers were sent to a Metcalfe Street home in Avon Park and found gas poured around the doors and windows. They also discovered two Molotov cocktails on the property.

While a traditional Molotov cocktail contains an ignitable fluid inside a glass container with a cloth wick attached, these two were slightly different.

"He used plastic bottles and they just bounced off the house," Doughney said.

Bank fraud gone awry

Sebring Police Sgt. Curtis Hart has dealt with counterfeit cases where people out of Tampa will give fake checks to homeless residents, have them cash it and give them a cut of the money.

One Tampa man tried to do that at a Sebring Bank of America branch once. It didn't end well for him.

"I guess they must have found the dumbest one of them all," Hart said. "The teller noticed that the check didn't look real or what not and just kept it. When the initial officer got there ... the guy had left his ID card, or driver's license, the check and everything else and just left out of the building."

Laundry in the buff and improper drinking

The fake check is probably not as memorable for Hart as the call about a senior lady doing some "risque" laundry.

"She's out on the corner of Second and Roseland in the buff, with a basket full of clothes washing them in the rain," he said.

This was not Hart's first run-in with this particular woman, nor was it his third. She was notorious several years ago for having to be taken home by police after being found around town very drunk.

Hart said the duty often fell to him. One night, she came to the police station with a bag of clothes, needing a lift.

"I asked her if she had anything on her. She said, 'No,'" Hart said.

He's halfway to her house when he hears a "psst" and a "shhh" sound coming from the back.

"I look in the back seat and she's got a beer open (and) smoking a cigarette," Hart said.

Once he got the woman home, Hart found that she'd burnt hole in the back seat. The chauffer service was officially cancelled.

"She got a little upset with me," Hart said.

Highlands Today reporter Brad Dickerson can be reached at 863-386-5838 or bdickerson@highlandstoday.com.

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