A byte out of crime? Transient steals a balky police computer

The word went out in the LAPD’s Devonshire Division: Focus on the BFMV (burglary from a motor vehicle) problem.

And, wouldn’t you know it, a few hours later two officers in a coffee shop were notified that a transient had broken into a motor vehicle -- the officers’ vehicle -- and burglarized something.

The something was the car’s computer, reported the Thin Blue Line, a police publication. In its place, a brick lay on the passenger’s seat, amid much broken glass.

The burglar was quickly nabbed -- good news. The computer was also found, which was, well, mixed news, quipped the Thin Blue Line. It meant the officers wouldn’t be receiving a new machine. The newspaper wondered whether the burglar would be charged with “stealing constantly malfunctioning property from a police vehicle.”

Well, goodbye, Dolly: The other day this column showed a “Hell H.S. Reunion” marquee, which referred not to a local school but rather to a comedy theatrical publication. But it reminded Jonathan Schwartz of Marina del Rey of a long-vanished piece of graffiti in downtown L.A. that originally said, “JESUS SAVES FROM HELL.” It was later amended by some heathen who turned it into a commentary on “Hello Dolly” revivals (see photo by George Bentley of La Puente). Perhaps it’s only a coincidence, but I don’t think L.A. has welcomed back “Dolly” since.

Sizzling love: As you no doubt read, hundreds of superstitious couples flocked to wedding chapels in Las Vegas on Saturday, convinced that the 7/7/07 date would bring them luck. The day also produced some spectacular numbers on temperature gauges, which exceeded 110 degrees. My colleague Kimi Yoshino noticed that the Little White Wedding Chapel had to warn visitors not to seek sanctuary among the flowers (see photo).

Unclear on the concept: The mysterious Diane J. of Yorba Linda visited a Placentia store where she encountered a misnamed item that prompted her to conclude: “You never can be too perfect” (see photo).

Talk about school spirit: Some alumni wear hats or shirts bearing the name of their college. Steve Koenig found a different approach in Fortaleza, Brazil. Observing a Caltech sign there, he asked the receptionist about the origin of the name. “She explained that it was the name of a university in the United States that the owner had attended,” he said. “He liked the name.”

Every L.A. story has a show biz angle: John Greenwood was at a downtown trial involving a tenant who claimed to owe less rent because his apartment’s elevator didn’t work. It led to this exchange: Tenant’s attorney to the property manager: “Well, how many stories does this building have?” Owner’s attorney: “Objection! Ambiguous, lacks foundation. Your Honor, we have an actor and a post-production engineer on the jury panel. This building could have a thousand stories! How’s the property manager to know?”

miscelLAny: I caught a Long Beach Playhouse production of Neil Simon’s “I Ought to Be in Pictures” and was struck by a transplanted New Yorker’s line about Southern California: “Thirty inches of rain in two hours. The rest of the year is all sun.” Not sure the younger members of the audience understood the meaning of that rare phenomenon called rain.

Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012, and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com