Around 3 a.m., near 39th and Lander, two citizens were awakened by an odd, high pitched sound. They found two men under their pickup truck (which was parked on the street). While the wife called 911, the husband chased the two suspects. Officers set up containment in the area, and a K9 unit found a man hiding in a back yard in the 2700 block of 37th SW. He was positively identified and booked into King County Jail for investigation of attempted theft and on two misdemeanor warrants from Tukwila. It turns out that the two were trying to steal the truck's catalytic converter.

Though the second suspect in the converter theft was not located, officers on the lookout happened to interrupt an unrelated auto-theft. That suspect was booked into King County Jail as well.

Meanwhile, all of this police activity freaked out a woman in the area who had just been released from jail for drug violations and who didn't want to be seen. In her apparent quest to be the poster child for good judgment and discretion, she jumped into an empty, idling car that belonged to a paper delivery man and drove wildly through the streets near 39th and Stevens, revving the engine, crashing into cars and ignoring orders to stop. An officer was able to reach the car, break the window with his flashlight, and grab the car keys, just as the car's owner, the paper deliveryman, came running up the street, out of breath, to explain what had happened. The woman was booked into King County Jail for investigation of auto theft and, once again, on drug charges-since she was carrying three rocks of cocaine under her tongue.

In South Park, two brothers called 911 to report their older brother, who was off his meds, had filled a skillet with pancake mix and was trying to set it on fire. He also said he'd "snap their necks" if anyone tried to interfere. The brothers added that recently he had been washing his clothes and hanging them outside in the rain to dry. When officers arrived, the kitchen was filled with thick black smoke, and the brother was holding the skillet with his bare hands. Stating that he was the "sibling of Lucifer," the 25-year-old was taken to Harborview for an involuntary commitment.

Stay close to your laptops. Twice last week, victims answering questions about bus schedules had their laptops stolen in coffee houses in both the Admiral and Alaska Junctions. The snatch and grab occurs during the distraction, and the suspect has often had accomplices on the scene. The Admiral Junction victim, a woman in her 50's, was knocked to the ground and injured when she chased the suspects. Witness descriptions and a license plate led officers to a 17-year-old who was arrested on Wednesday when an officer recognized him at a Junction bus stop.

Around 11 pm Monday, a man scared off a stranger lurking on his back deck in the 6700 block of 39th SW. An hour earlier, a house in the same block had been burglarized. And late Friday, a couple in the 4500 block of 49th reported a peeper watching them through the bedroom window.

An elementary student reports that a white male in a small black car has exposed himself to her several times in the area around 16th and SW Henderson.

Around 1:45 Monday, a 17-year-old was drinking a beer with friends at 42nd and Hanford. An officer spoke with the girl and called her father to come and get her. He confiscated the open beer along with an unopened container she had placed on the ground.

Burglaries by block: 2400 SW Graham, 6700 39th SW, 7200 36th SW, 8100 30th SW, 7900 2nd Ave. S