Troubles with two magazines sales people last week: A 20-year-old from Philadelphia was arrested after he broke into a Beach-Drive area home on Saturday afternoon. He fled down the street after the homeowner caught him in the act, but officers were able to catch him?even after he broke away, ran to the beach, and tried to hide under driftwood and rocks. He was booked into King County Jail for investigation of burglary. In the second incident, police were called after a 25-year-old Tacoma resident became aggressive when told to leave the yard of a North Admiral home where he was trying to sell his wares. It was the second time in two weeks that he had been arrested in such a disturbance. He was not carrying identification or a sales license. Both men were working for sales companies based in Gig Harbor.

And in the 5000 block of 25th SW, officers picked up two young men who were going door-to-door claiming to be raising money for a Rainier Beach football team. But neither was enrolled at Rainier Beach. They had also told a couple of their victims to just make the donation checks payable to the boys directly. Their clipboards, the $20 cash they had collected, and a couple of checks were entered into evidence. The boys were released from the precinct.

At 4 a.m. Monday, officers contacted a young man in a bus shelter near 35th and Barton. He was incoherent and said he had just left a party and was catching a bus downtown so that he could catch another bus to take him to his home in West Seattle. (Did I mention that he actually lives in Bellevue?) A computer check showed that he was wanted on a $2,000 warrant for public intoxication (by a minor), so he was turned over to Redmond officers.

While headed to a different call early Wednesday, an officer was passed by a van traveling with its lights off. When the van driver saw that the officer turned to follow, he sped away onto 25th at SW Thistle. He ran up over a curb and deserted the vehicle (which had not only been stolen but had been used as a getaway car in a shoplifting incident). Conveniently, the officer was riding with a police dog named "Maximus" who quickly tracked the suspect to a nearby fenced yard. The Burien resident was booked into King County Jail for investigation of auto theft, driving with a suspended license, drug charges (he was carrying a crack pipe), and on an outstanding no-bail escape warrant from the Department of Corrections.

A South Park tavern owner called 911 to report that an intoxicated customer who had been denied service was stealing other people?s drinks and refused to leave. The man had also slammed a beer bottle into a window, shattering it. (Replacement will cost $750.) The suspect was booked into King County Jail for investigation of property damage and for drug charges. (Officers found cocaine in his front pants pocket.)

A few days later, at the same tavern, an intoxicated female customer who was refused service went to her car and deliberately slammed into three other vehicles. As officers arrived at the scene, she ran from her car and into the roadway and was almost hit by a semi-truck. Belligerent, she struggled with arresting officers and had to be tasered. She was taken to Harborview but faces investigation of DUI and reckless and negligent driving.

More cops, crooks and capers can be found online at The Thin Blue Blog, Megan Sheppard?s city-wide police blotter: www.thinblueblog.com