Replica good enough to dupe the cops

It was not your usual theft report. A stolen LAPD bomb-squad vehicle had crashed into a bridge in downtown L.A., leading to the arrest of the driver. Some confusion followed. The LAPD didn’t have a bomb-squad vehicle missing. Closer inspection revealed that it was only a replica, stolen from a movie set. The Star News, an L.A. Sheriff’s Department publication, commented that the arresting officers were relieved that the suspect hadn’t come out of the replica vehicle with a replica gun.

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Boo: And now I reach into my musty archives for some of this column’s traditional Halloween decorations (see photos). Try not to shudder too much at:

* A haunted porta-potty (from Mavis Medley)

* A peculiar Christmas tree lot (from Hal Horne)

* Some “Duh!” directions for readying a Halloween mask (from Bill Faherty)

* A funeral home for souls who don’t seem to know whether they belong there (from Judi Birnberg)

* And, a service for those wishing to order some scary flying mammals (from Carol Trudelle)

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Dial-a-bat (cont.): Actually, BAT is an acronym for Brockton Area Transport in Massachusetts.

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Numbers game: LARadio.com’s request to industry folks to recall any of their own embarrassing boo-boos brought this e-mail from Jim Shannon:

“It was 1968, I’m 18 and working at KREL-Corona. The station was broadcasting the Corona High football games. I was hired to do play-by-play for $8 a game. In the second quarter, a Corona back went off-tackle through a hole big enough to drive a truck through. As I called it, ‘Bryon takes the handoff, he’s off left tackle, across the 40, to the 45, still on his feet . . . he’s across the 50 . . . hit and down on the 55-yard-line!’ ”

Recalled Shannon: “After that, I was known in town as the 55-yard-line man.”

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Urban mysteries: I mentioned that a Costa Mesa resident wondered why a chain-link fence on an overpass of the San Diego Freeway has as many as 20 padlocks attached to it; the numbers vary and occasionally there are none.

Wrote Michael Darling of L.A.: “There’s apparently a custom that started in Hungary called ‘Love Padlocks.’ The custom is that couples attach a padlock to a fence to symbolize their commitment to each other. Is it possible that this could have spread to Southern California?”

Perhaps. But I’m still leaning toward the theory that it’s a prank by teenagers aimed at driving motorists mad with curiosity.

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MiscelLAny: Patricia Newman of Thousand Oaks noticed that The Times printed obituaries on the same day for Peg Bracken, author of “The I Hate to Cook Book,” and Vincent DeDomenico, creator of Rice-A-Roni.

Commented Newman: “I’m sure they’ll have a chuckle together in the hereafter.”

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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.