In police jargon, “Code 7” means “taking...

In police jargon, “Code 7” means “taking a lunch break.” But Hill’s Code 7 restaurant is on an extended break.

The 1st Street eatery, patronized by cops, politicians and reporters, has gone out of business.

Leasing agent Jeff Luster of Major Properties says that the joint’s curious little museum is still intact behind the boarded-up exterior: A display of about 1,000 shoulder patches of law enforcement units in cities ranging from Jacksonville, Fla. (“Bold New City of the South”) to Culver City (“Heart of Screenland”).

Visiting officers began leaving patches with former owner Glenn Hill in the early 1970s after taking notice of such other furnishings as paintings of the Keystone Kops, a cast-iron police call box (the telephone booth) and a pair of police clubs converted into door handles.

Hill once recalled a cop who traded a patch for a drink and, after finishing it, asked how many free cocktails he would receive if he brought in a complete radio prowl car.

The Good, the Bad and the Underpass:

Talk about your rough morning commutes. John Burger’s car flipped upside down and slid 200 feet down the Santa Ana Freeway after he was rear-ended in the City of Commerce Wednesday morning. He’d like to reward the four young men who pulled him and a passenger to safety. But he never got their names. Oh yes. He’d also love to hear from the driver of the 1970ish, cream-colored Ford that cracked into him and then fled.

Larry Walters’ historic 1982 flight took him only from San Pedro to Long Beach. But what made it memorable was that Walters’ craft was a lawn chair attached to weather balloons.

“I didn’t do it because I thought I would get attention or make money,” he told reporters recently. “I did it because it was a lifelong dream.”

Surprisingly, Walters’ life was never made into a made-for-TV movie.

But, now, Timex Corp.--the “takes-a-licking-and-keeps-on-ticking” people--has hired Walters for $1,000 for a magazine ad. Spokesman Ron Sok said that the company’s current campaign salutes ordinary folks who conquer obstacles.

Walters, who landed that day by deflating seven balloons with a pellet gun, encountered only one obstacle: the Federal Aviation Administration, which fined him $1,500.

Yes, we erred the other day when we said that one-time Rough Rider Teddy Roosevelt was known as Old Rough and Ready. Several readers reminded us that it was the nickname of Zachary Taylor. Well, at least we didn’t refer to Teddy as Ol’ Blue Eyes.

miscelLAny:

The Star newspaper announced the presence of a new delicacy in the City of Angels on June 21, 1871: pretzels.