LAMORINDA WEEKLY | Lafayette Police Blotter

Hit and Drive Away Slowly, 9/22/09 A victim called Lafayette Police to report her car was hit by another car in the Trader Joe's parking lot on Mt. Diablo Boulevard. The offending driver was backing out of a parking space when he hit the victim's car. The victim offered a honking warning but the driver continued to back up. After he hit the victim's car, he slowly drove away. An alert Trader Joe's employee who recorded the offending license plate number witnessed the low-speed incident. The car is registered in El Centro, California. It is possible the suspect is both deaf and unable to process the feeling of impact with another vehicle. Perhaps crash-test dummy is a suitable future career?

Counterfeit Registration Tags, 9/25/09 Lafayette Police stopped a vehicle on Mt. Diablo Boulevard at Lafayette Circle for an expired registration tag. The driver consented to a search of the vehicle and police discovered five counterfeit registration tags. The driver denied knowledge of the tags and stated they belonged to his brother who was in the hospital in Oakland. The driver was cited and the vehicle was towed. It is unknown how the driver got home or how his brother took the news.

Anger Management Issues, 10/2/09 A Second Street resident parked and locked her vehicle and retired to her apartment for the night. When she returned to her vehicle the next morning, she immediately knew something was amiss. A closer look revealed four punctured tires, a smashed front driver's side window, smashed passenger window and a light dimmer switch that was pulled out of the dashboard. There are no leads, witnesses or suspects and the fingerprint dusting was negative. Let's hope the culprit will try using his words next time.

Thieves Like Backpacks Too, 10/9/09 The victim parked and locked her car on Mt. Diablo Court. When she returned, she discovered an unknown subject had broken the passenger side window and taken the backpack she'd left in plain view. There are no suspects or witnesses. As an aside, there were an inordinate number of vehicle break-ins in Lafayette during the past two weeks; residents may want to take extra caution when stowing their belongings.