American Notes LOS ANGELES

The disappearance of 300 manhole covers weighing as much as 300 lbs. each over ( the past three weeks had Los Angeles police mystified. It seemed unlikely that tourists were swiping them as souvenirs or that many people could easily use them as tiddledywinks or Frisbees.

Some Angelenos theorized that kids were filching the things in tribute to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who use manhole covers for shields. The least plausible idea was that someone was stealing the covers for money. After all, a manhole cover only commands at most $6 as scrap. Yet when the case was solved last week, that theory proved right. Most of the missing covers turned up at a scrap-metals yard, and cops collared two culprits, dubbed the Manhole Men, with a pickup truck loaded with more manhole covers. They were charged with grand theft and receiving stolen property.