Motorist Reports Being, um, Victimized by Free CD Player Installed in Vehicle

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Det. Joyce Macheca was visiting relatives in Wickenburg, Ariz., when she spotted this police log item: “At a business on East Wickenburg Way, an individual got into his vehicle to leave work and found someone had installed a CD player in the dash area. The individual did not know where it came from.”

Quipped Macheca: “We need more of those [crimes]. People would be asking, ‘Where was he [the car owner] parked?’ ”

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Speaking of surprise extras: A couple of years ago, a Monterey Park resident’s stolen car was found on the street with a Club antitheft device attached to the steering wheel. Funny thing was, she didn’t own a Club. She concluded there’s just no honor among thieves.

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Elsewhere on the beat: A woman wearing handcuffs walked into the L.A. County sheriff’s substation in Paramount and explained that her husband had accidentally shackled her. She said they didn’t have a key and asked deputies to free her. They did--after first checking to make sure that no jailers were looking for her.

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Now if this handcuffed guy walks in ... : The city of Paramount’s newsletter said that a man arrested for shoplifting $72 worth of women’s makeup was carrying more than $1,000. Why hadn’t he just paid for the stuff? the arresting officer asked him. He was in a rush, the shoplifter explained, and the line was too long.

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Write 100 times on the blackboard ... : Lori Murchison of Culver City High received a fax from CBS about a new TV show and noticed that the logo (see accompanying) referred to two atoms of hydrogen. Of course, even if the “2” is elevated above the line, the logo would say hydrogen squared. But, hey, it’s only television.

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Lesson No. 2: A reader sent along some directions for a calculator that contained one miscalculation (see accompanying).

Mystery of the day: On a visit to Kyoto, Japan, Dan Shepard of Huntington Beach saw one offering of a clothing shop that didn’t translate smoothly into English (see photo). Of course, if such an item was advertised here, it would be called “Pre-Owned Guts.” Anyone know what it is?

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With lots of inner beauty: “Still looking for names for the San Fernando Valley city?” writes Will Sandberg, and of course I am. He noted that the movie “Magnolia” was set in the Valley. “The movie had the name half right,” Sandberg said. “Not Magnolia, but Outer Magnolia.”

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miscelLAny: I heard a blurb on the radio about another beauty pageant that has de-emphasized the bathing suit segment: the Miss Nude California contest.

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LA-TIMES, 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.