Best of the Blotter: Guy Confuses Police Car with Taxi; Kitty Culprits; Officers Seek Bat Man

Hey, Let's Make a Run for the Border

A 40-year-old man called police at 3 a.m. to say he'd been assaulted in a bar, but then thought the officer who arrived was a taxi to take him to get some food.

The man told police an officer had already given him a ride home.

Police determined the man had been drinking at the Islander in Middleburg Heights and that police in that city had driven him home. They did not take him to Taco Bell.

Friendly Gestures

A West Bend Drive woman called police at 3:30 a.m. to say there was a dead cat -- possibly beheaded -- on her front porch.

The woman said she was afraid to go out and look; police discovered the animal was a fox that appeared to have been hit by a car. It was not known who put the animal there.

He's Out, But Safe

A passerby called police about 11:20 p.m. after seeing a middle-aged man carrying a baseball bat walking on East Bend Drive.

The caller said it just struck him as wrong somehow. Police couldn't find the bat-carrying man.

Paper or Plastic?

Two men were tossed out of  for stealing. Not clothes, not jewelry.

Plastic bags.

Police said stealing plastic bags is common at malls like  -- would-be shoplifters grab bags from one store and then fill them with merchandise at others.

Trick, or Maybe a Treat

A Drake Road resident called police Halloween night when her 11-year-old son came home from trick-or-treating with a can of beer.

Police spoke with a resident at the house in question, who said when she arrived home, there were 10 or 15 kids there without permission. They took off running when they saw her.

A Gun? Chances are Remote

A witness told police a man in a Pearl Road apartment threatened another man with a gun from his balcony.

Police questioned the tenant, who acknowledged he went onto his balcony after someone threw an apple at his window.

But there was no reason to call in the SWAT team. The gun was actually a TV remote.

More Cat Burglary

A Pearl Road woman reported someone tried to get into her apartment when she found the sliding patio door had been pushed off its tracks.

Police determined the culprit was looking to get out, not in. Officers said it appeared one of the woman's cats had jumped on the door, knocking it out of its grid.

The woman acknowledged her cats do jump at the screen. 

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