Law Roundup: A budding mystery goes unsolved

A “huge” pot of flowers went missing from hanging baskets on a porch in Kalispell. The owner contacted the Kalispell Police Department for help after noticing the theft, but summoned her inner P.I. when she spotted a trail of petals.

She followed for a while, but never came across the plants. Her investigation was nipped in the bud after the trail petered out. In lieu of recovering the flowers, she asked for extra patrols in the neighborhood.

Someone found an arrangement of traffic cones set up for a construction zone confusing and contacted the police. They worried the cones would lead to an accident. The situation was later corrected.

A cyclist parked his brand new bicycle on the sidewalk and walked into a store for a minute only to emerge to find his ride missing. The man said he just bought the bike, valued at $228, a few days earlier.

Officers were called in to assist with the delivery of eviction papers.

A store employee asked police to move along a woman peering through the windows of nearby vehicles. The worker described the woman as about 45 years old and walking with a German shepherd. Officers failed to find the woman.

Someone came across a pair of “blocks” left in an alley between two stores. They worried it might be drugs and asked that the police check them out. Officers determined they were road tar meant for patching potholes.

A caller reported a camper that had been parked on the street for a couple of weeks. One of the men in the camper keeps going back and forth from a nearby apartment. Occasionally, vehicles pull up to the camper and people go inside. Arriving officers spoke with the camper’s owner, who said he will move it in the next couple of days.

A couple of odd gifts from a neighbor left one resident worried. The resident told police that they had befriended the elderly couple next door. Recently, though, the wife had brought over a firearm and a knife and offered the resident her husband’s handmade canoe.

Someone asked for police help in removing a woman asking for money near the rails-to-trails path. They said the woman had two garbage bags and a sign asking for cash. Responding officers were unable to find the woman.

A caller reported a homeless woman possibly sleeping in a camper that was up for sale. They said the woman exited the camper and slammed the door, potentially breaking it, when she left. She had walked into a nearby store, the caller said, who told police they were at the site waiting to look at one of the campers listed for sale.

Arriving officers met up with the woman and learned she was in the process of buying the camper. The seller verified the transaction.

A man walked into the police department lobby to report the theft of items from his car. He told officers that he let a friend drive the vehicle since he lacked a valid license. But recently he noticed the keys and the title to the vehicle had gone missing. Officers counseled the man on what happens “when he does drugs and hangs out with dopers.”

A woman told police that a smile exchanged with another driver on the highway led to a potential stalking situation. She said the male motorist followed her into a parking lot. Feeling uncomfortable, she walked into a store, which the man entered after her. Buying a coffee to stall for time, she alerted employees who contacted the police. The man left, without ever speaking to her, in the meantime.

A resident told police that a twentysomething man approached her 10-year-old daughter while she ran out to the car to get her boxing gear. When he started walking toward her, the girl jumped into the car and locked the doors. He then walked around for a few minutes and left. Responding officers were unsuccessful in finding the man.

Police moved along a man who was screaming at people and threatening to hang them.