"Stephen King killed John Lennon"

Last week's meeting of the Sarasota City Commission took a crazy -- and we do mean crazy -- turn when a man used the public comment portion of the meeting to warn commissioners that they were harboring the most dangerous criminal in the country -- Casey Key resident Stephen King! Watch:

Man self-identifies as undercover officer to avoid $4 bar tab

All this over a $4 bar tab, Bay News 9 reports.

According to Sarasota police, 25-year-old Rhett P. Hopkins visited O'Malley's -- you guessed it:  a drinking establishment -- over the weekend.  At 0-dark-30 Sunday, police were called because Hopkins was refusing to pay his bar tab.  He said he didn't have to fork over the $4 because he was working as an undercover Tampa cop.  According to the Sarasota police, Hopkins also claimed he worked for the Department of Homeland Security.

Police said he then pulled out his cell phone, called 911, and asked to be connected to his boss at the Tampa Police Department.  When asked for identification, he said he didn't have any.  He also refused to provide his name to officers and --  once again -- passed up the opportunity to square things up with the bartender. 

Whereupon he was arrested for impersonating an officer and carted off to the Sarasota County Jail.  (Image:  Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.)

Carnie's wife was the scary one

A Sarasota woman followed her ex-husband across the country and fatally stabbed him inside an Iowa mall where he was working for a traveling circus, police told the Associated Press. Debi Joy Droguett Olson, 53, was charged with murder Thursday in the death of Mauricio Droguett, 52. “It’s a classic case of rage, of hate for someone — it’s very personal,” said Davenport police Capt. David Struckman. Authorities said Droguett, who worked for Carson & Barnes Family Circus in Sarasota, had restraining orders against his ex-wife in at least three states. They had been married about 20 years.

Firefighter is stunned

A Sarasota County sheriff’s deputy accidentally Tasered a firefighter over the weekend, the Herald Tribune reports. How did the Taser go off? More than one explanation has emerged. In a sheriff's report, Deputy Stacey Eve says she tried to test the Taser and forgot to remove a cartridge. But assistant Fire Chief Paul Dezzi says that some of the firefighters were "goofing around" in the fire station and knocked on a bathroom door while the deputy was inside. When the deputy came out of the bathroom, the gun is said to have hit firefighter W.C. Donaldson.  Donaldson ended up having an electronic probe removed from his stomach.

Escaping inmate stuck in the pipes

The corrections deputy checking cells about 11 p.m. on an upper level at the Sarasota County Jail kept hearing strange noises coming from the floor. The rattling didn't seem right so all cells on both floors were checked. Deputies discovered a 21-year-old inmate stuck between the pipes in the ceiling of the lower floor, the Charlotte Sun-Herald reports.Yep, he was trying to escape .

Bounty now $14,000 for eagle killer

Folks take their bald eagles seriously. The fool who shot a mama American bald eagle in Manatee County recently now has a $14,000 price on his head, the Bradenton Herald reports. Sarasota attorney Larry Byrd kicked things off the other day with an offer of a $1,000 reward to match the Federal government's $1,000. Now pledges have come in to up the ante. Oh, and the babies in the eggs Mama was sitting on died, too. The culprit could face three federal charges of killing eagles.

Birds leave their mark on historic statues

A citizens group collected $110,000 to repair and clean 1920s era marble statues of lions that adorn St. Armands Circle in Sarasota. Unfortunately, one statue was placed under a row of four high-tension power lines where birds like to hang out, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports. The birds, being birds, have been leaving nasty stains on those nice, clean, newly repaired statues. Experts don't know of any way to get the birds to move, so they're saying the statues may have to be moved.

Upscale thief tries to steal groceries from Publlx

A well-dressed man in a lime green polo shirt with a logo from an gated upscale community loaded his shopping cart with about $300 worth of groceries at a Publix in Sarasota on Christmas Eve and tried to leave without paying, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports. When the manager asked him for a receipt, the man fled quickly without the groceries, which included shrimp, champagne, beer and cheese, or the makings of a great Christmas Eve party. The man's image was caught on surveillance video. Police say they have a suspect but haven't released a name yet.

I was hired to scare old couple, man says

A Tampa man told authorities he was hired to scare an aged Sarasota couple because they owe money to the person who hired him, the Bradenton Herald reports. The couple say the man beat them in Sarasota and New York. Authorities have charged the man with stalking and aggravated battery.

Smoking ban for Lido Beach next?

Less than a month after smoking was banned at all Sarasota County public beaches, the city of Sarasota  is weighing whether to follow suit at popular Lido Beach, within walking distance from the restaurants and shops at St. Armands Circle, the Bradenton Herald reports. It wasn't the smoke but the butts that prompted the county's ban as a way to clean up the littler. The city commission will take up the issue on Monday. One commissioner says rather than ban smoking the city should get tough on smokers who turn their cigarettes into litter. Naples is considering a similar ban.