Ticket? Check. Gas to Get to LAX? Oops!

On the Sigalert.com website, Joey Ewaskiw of Manhattan Beach read a bulletin about a traveler who forgot to check one thing before leaving for LAX: his gas tank.

The result:

“405 North on W Century Blvd Off Ramp ... Traffic Hazard ... 8:37 a.m. ... Vehicle Black Lexus Ran Out of Gas ... Prty Had to Catch Flight So Left Vehicle on the Off Ramp Exit 46 ... Request Flatbed Tow Truck to Store the Vehicle Till They Get Back in Town Sunday Night.” The driver did make it to the shoulder of the road before disembarking.

That’s one way to beat the traffic inside LAX.

Tailgating the above item: Maybe the Lexus owner had won the “tow-week” prize that Lillian McCain of Northridge read about (see accompanying).

Surprise! An LAPD team in an unmarked car was watching the home of a robbery suspect when the latter was apparently alerted about the strange vehicle.

So the suspect “got dressed and came out to investigate,” said the Thin Blue Line, an LAPD publication. “He had no idea what was waiting for him on the other side of that tinted glass.”

He was arrested and later confessed to three robberies, including one that hadn’t even been reported.

The officers were thankful that the suspect made the arrest easier.

“He just couldn’t wait to get to jail,” said the Thin Blue Line.

Daze of our lives: Frank Parrish spotted a construction sign in Silver Lake that claimed 2007 will have a record leap year (see photo).

Uh, thanks: The 99 Cents Only folks, who often inject a bit of satire into their ads, offered some less-than-effusive congratulations to the hapless U.S. World Cup soccer team (see accompanying). That French player would have head-butted the ad people.

Spell-Check Disaster No. 42,876: If she lived in a manor, Deirdre Kirchner of Arcadia observed, “I don’t think I’d care for vines creeping along the halls and climbing the great staircase” (see accompanying).

A joke that won’t float: Giants slugger Barry Bonds, who has been chasing Henry Aaron’s lifetime home run record, reportedly may be charged in a grand jury investigation of the steroids scandal. Which prompted one local sportscaster to crack that Bonds may soon be “chasing a bus on the way to Alcatraz.”

If so, I hope that bus is amphibious.

miscelLAny: We live in an age of confession, judging from today’s TV and radio shows and, in the case of my 13-year-old son, school yearbooks. I noticed that among all the wishes to him for a happy summer vacation was one unsigned message that said simply, “Sorry I stabbed you.” I was relieved that the weapon had been a writing implement. Guess the student was trying to prove that the pencil is mightier than the sword.

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.