Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/102968
MILLIMETERS FROM DEATH The Sarasota Police Department headquarters on Adams Lane is a short distance from where an unidentified officer mistook a Realtor and client for burglars. Photo by Norman Schimmel A SARASOTA POLICE DEPARTMENT OFFICER DRAWS GUN ON A REALTOR AND CLIENT ON NEW YEAR'S EVE, MISTAKING THEM FOR BURGLARS By Stan Zimmerman City Editor On Dec. 31, a local realtor and her client were confronted by a Sarasota police officer and forced at gunpoint to lie on a dirty concrete floor, they have reported. For at least five minutes, the pair was facedown on a gritty carport with a loaded pistol aimed at the tops of their heads. Realtor Susan Christy says it happened about 1 p.m. at a home adjacent to the Publix grocery store on South Lime Avenue, west of South Shade Street. She and a client, who asked not to be identified, were inspecting a house for sale. Christy says she understands how the female officer could have misinterpreted things initially. "We parked in the [Publix] parking lot and walked over, so there was no car in the driveway," she said. "There was no 'For Sale' sign in the yard, and you couldn't see the [realty I figure we were facedown with a company] lockbox because the door was in gun on us for five minutes. the carport. They later said a neighbor called in Susan Christy Realtor a burglary," she added.