Please Hold

Los Angeles police say that Carlos Hawthorne, 20, and an accomplice barged into a house, stole jewelry, shot the two residents, and escaped in the residents’ 1992 Lexus. In an attempt to throw the cops off their trail, police say Hawthorne called 911 to report that he saw suspicious men abandon a Lexus and run away. The 911 operator kept Hawthorne on the phone long enough for police to find him still in the phone booth, still talking to 911 — and still holding the keys to the Lexus, which was parked a mile away. They searched him and found a necklace and a bracelet matching the description of items stolen in the robbery. Hawthorne was arrested on robbery and attempted murder charges, and police are looking for the second man. “He kind of cinched himself,” a police spokesman said. “I don’t know what he was thinking.” (Los Angeles Times) ...Hey: don’t knock it when citizens help fight crime.