Tackling stupid criminal tricks and others for Super Bowl

In keeping with today’s Super Bowl theme, let’s haul out some football terms to describe the stupid criminal tricks and other developments of the past season or so. Whistled fouls included:

* Intentional grounding: Two women suspected of shoplifting shoes threw the spiked footwear at officers as they fled a San Diego store.

* Taunting: A young man was arrested for vandalism in Malibu after he snapped photos of himself daubing walls with graffiti.

* Incomplete pass: A man phoned the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, saying he had been locked out of his girlfriend’s apartment -- in his undies.

* Neutral zone infraction: A drunken guitarist was arrested for repeatedly stepping into the path of a police horse in Isla Vista.

And, finally:

* Illegal use of the paws: A Claremont resident who thought she had been burglarized discovered that the goods had actually been dragged outside and buried by her dog.

Offsides: Police reported that an increasing number of accidental 911 calls are being made by people who sit on their cellphones. Police term them “butt calls.”

No longer on the injured reserve list: A wheelchair-riding L.A. woman suspected of fraud leaped to her feet and ran after being arrested in Las Vegas.

Most interceptions: Randy McWilliams of the Placentia Police Department recovered 58 stolen vehicles (including 23 with the thieves inside) and made 39 arrests over a 12-month period.

Delay of game: Lutz Moeckel of Garden Grove noticed that one company is attempting to move spring back several months (see accompanying).

Uniform for sale: Kathleen Austin of Whittier read about a wedding dress with an ambiguous past (see accompanying).

Time for the officials to huddle: In Redondo Beach, Russell and Curtis Fong alerted their mom Linda to a set of confusing signs that could bring play to a halt (see accompanying).

Clipping? Ingrid Wilmot of Rancho Palos Verdes thinks the yellowtail appetizer at one Costa Mesa eatery should be cheaper judging from the type of garnishes served (see accompanying).

miscelLAny: In the worst-game-plan category, a would-be burglar tried to shoot a lock off a door in Victorville only to have the bullet ricochet off his chest (he survived, as did the lock).

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 -- after he’s through watching the Super Bowl.