All of a Sudden, She Had the Run of the Place

Looks as though I was too hasty when I gave “Police Chase of the Week” honors to the San Diego-area pursuit of two alleged shoe thieves who flung the spiked footwear at cops.

Deserving of equal recognition was a later confrontation involving a wheelchair-riding L.A. woman and Las Vegas police.

Laura Lee Medley, 35, had sued Long Beach and at least three other California cities over injuries she said she suffered while in her wheelchair. She claimed to be paralyzed from a drunk-driving accident.

Investigators, however, suspected she was a con artist. She was tracked to Las Vegas, arrested in her wheelchair and, when she complained of medical problems, taken to a hospital.

There, a funny thing happened.

“She gets to the hospital, and while she’s waiting for an examination, she gets up from the chair and runs,” Long Beach prosecutor Belinda Mayes told Reuters. “Somebody remarked, ‘That’s where the great miracle occurred.’ ” Medley was captured by cops as she sprinted through the hospital corridors.

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Dumb criminal tricks: A suspected cat burglar eluded officers in Rancho Cucamonga, but he wasn’t expected to be on the loose for long. He left something behind, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reported: his loot-filled car, with his wallet inside.

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No rest in this restroom: Mary Kennelly of Diamond Bar spotted dueling signs on the door of a restaurant that must be short of office space (see photo).

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It’s not all about accordions: Deborah Mandabach of Loma Linda found evidence in a banquet brochure of the Polka Music Hall of Fame that the polka crowd is wilder than you might have suspected (see accompanying).

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Explosive item: “We may have finally found the WMDs,” wrote Janine Cartier of Westminster of her discovery (see accompanying).

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Human hibernation?: Considering the time involved in one medical study, Bill Nault of Manhattan Beach wondered if the notice was directed toward bears (see accompanying).

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miscelLAny: General managers prefer blonds. At least that seems to be the case in local television. If you’re wondering which station has the most on-air blonds, the media website www.ronfineman.com broke the numbers down this way: KCBS/KCAL, nine; KTTV/KCOP, eight; KABC, seven; KTLA, four; and KNBC, three.

“Perhaps,” wrote webmaster Ron Fineman, “that would explain the reports I’ve heard of liquid paper on their computer screens.”

He just couldn’t resist a blond-anchor joke.

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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.