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Dude, where's my skateboard

If you're a skater, you know almost nothing is more important than your board. That's why it seemed a little odd when a West Spain Street resident found a strange man slumped over and ostensibly asleep in the front passenger seat of his Chevy Tahoe, parked in the driveway of his home.

When the man roused the stranger, he grabbed his skateboard and fled, leaving his skating helmet behind on the seat.

The Tahoe-owner called police who arrived quickly enough to spot the 20s-something young man - with a shaved head, black shirt and shorts - near an apartment complex at Seventh Street West and West Spain. As police approached, the suspect fled through the apartment complex, leaving his skateboard behind as he leaped over several fences.

After a futile effort, police gave up the search and confiscated the dropped board and the accompanying helmet.

Nothing had been taken from the Tahoe, which the owner had left unlocked, but police speculated that the skateboarding interloper may have been intent on burgling it when the owner arrived on scene.

A few hours later that premise gained traction when police received a report from another West Spain Street resident that some personal belongings had been taken from his front porch during the night. The belongings? A skate board and helmet, the same skateboard and helmet left earlier by the fleet-footed Tahoe intruder.

The legitimate owner of the board and helmet showed up at the police station to identify and reclaim his gear. He did not, police reported, have a shaved head.

In other incidents reported to local law enforcement:

Monday, Sept. 19:

Midnight - Two beers, 10 hours ago? A Sonoma police officer was traveling eastbound on West Spain when he saw directly in front of him a white, F150 Ford pick-up crossing over the double yellow line.

The officer made a traffic stop, contacted the driver and immediately intuited from sight and smell that some alcohol was involved in the equation. The 28-year-old Sonoma man said he had consumed two Coors beers at lunch, some 10 hours earlier. The man performed poorly on field sobriety tests, then blew a .125 blood alcohol level on the preliminary breath test.

The officer also discovered the man was on probation, the terms of which prohibited consumption of alcohol. The man opted for a blood test, which he submitted to at Sonoma Valley Hospital, was then charged with DUI and probation violation, and was released to the custody of his mother.

Tuesday, Sept. 20:

2:16 p.m. - Young counterfeiter passes bad bill. A middle school entrepreneur at Adele Harrison was exploring new ways to mint money when his efforts were arrested by the school safety officer for passing a counterfeit bill in the lunch line.

The 13-year-old boy had cleverly photocopied both sides of a $10 bill, and then glued the two halves together. He was able to pass the bill to a student worker in the lunch line, but the bogus bill was discovered and the bust was made. Police did not explain what photocopier the would-be counterfeiter used or what kind of paper he employed.  He was cited for his creative efforts (or lack thereof) and referred to the Youth and Family Services diversion program.

Wednesday, Sept. 21:

11:19 a.m. - The whole class was watching. A 15-year-old boy, accused of stealing his teacher's iPhone4 from her desk as she lectured, was given the choice of returning the phone or going to juvenile hall.

It wasn't a tough choice since at least four students witnessed the heist and told the teacher. The suspect was out of school for three days when the ID was made, but upon his return he was confronted by the evidence, confessed the crime, returned the phone and was cited to Youth and Family Services.