true crime -- small town beat

December 3: A woman brought her young grandson into the police department to have a police officer speak with him regarding the stealing of public library books. The grandson was appropriately counseled. The young man was compelled by family to return the books and pay for his misdeed. Case closed.

December 1: A resident called police concerned about kids playing in the snow-slickened roadway. An officer spoke to the intrepid duo and suggested they play over in the snowy grass off the roadway, where only the inexperienced motorists were driving. The kids accepted the suggestion and moved to higher ground, where they had a better view of the approaching enemy.

November 22: Border Patrol agents alerted police of a vehicle, which bore two different license plates. Officers contacted the driver. His explanation, that he had absent-mindedly forgotten to take the California license plate off the front of his car when he placed a new Washington license on the back, seemed plausible given the reeking odor of burnt marijuana emanating from his car. The driver was given a break on the license plates, and arrested for possession of the marijuana which he had not inhaled before police descended. The 23-year-old Seattle man was processed at the scene.

November 22: Border Patrol agents came upon a man sitting in the roadway in the dark beside his vehicle very late at night. Police responded and found that appearances were deceiving - the gentleman only appeared to be non-reflective. Actually, he had parked himself in the road for just that purpose and was hoping to shed light upon some personal issues. He declined all offers of assistance, but decided that he wasn't going to be able to get any serious thinking done until the police left, so he appeased them by getting out of the street and back into his car.

November 22: A 17-year-old gent borrowed the family SUV for a late night drive to the public pier with a couple of young ladies. He did not realize that it takes a vehicle approximately twice as far to brake to a stop on ice-slackened wood as on pavement. In this case a park bench, a big thick light standard, and two 12-by-12 inch retaining posts occupied that extra distance on the pier. These fixtures were all worse for wear following the SUVs passing, as was the vehicle itself. Fortunately no one was injured, and everyone was able to vividly recount the incident to arriving police officers.