Attention, parents of teenage drivers. If your son or daughter’s vehicle had some oddly explained damage on Saturday morning, Mike O’Neal would appreciate it if you contacted the University Park Police Department. On Friday night, at about 10:40 p.m., a hit-and-run driver plowed into O’Neal’s Toyota Avalon in the 3800 block of Centenary Avenue. The eastbound driver was speeding, and the Avalon was totaled. The vehicle in question likely has damage to its front end, on the passenger side.

Burglaries and thefts in NorthPark's parking lots haven't seen any trends over the past year.

This is where I would like you to read about the past year of NorthPark’s thefts, robberies and burglaries, and gasp at a rising or lowering trend that took place between May 2011 to April 2012.

But to be honest, it seems to be quite typical.

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In this Friday’s paper, you’ll see a story about the residents of Golf Drive, and the residents of the woods behind their homes: coyotes.

It’s not a new story in the Park Cities, but one worth revisiting every few years. The folks on that block have started a petition to rid University Park of these coyotes. If you want to sign it, click the link.

For the flip side of their argument, head to the city’s website, which lists a bunch of reasons why partial trapping and removal of the coyotes (if I’ve learned anything reporting this story it’s that most people in Texas pronounce it ky-oats) may be more detrimental than helpful.

According to a well-reported and well-written piece in today’s Daily Campus, only one sexual assault of an SMU student has been fully prosecuted in the past 25 years.

That instance — the well-known case of Monika Korra in 2009 — was perpetrated by men from outside SMU. The Daily Campus found that no recent sexual assault allegedly committed by an another student has been successfully prosecuted by outside law enforcement.

SMU officials say the internal system works well, though they refused to provide any statistics or other documented information to support their claim.

“It’s very effective,” SMU Police Chief Richard Shafer said. “It has helped people heal.”

It’s a fairly quick read, and worth your time. Kudos to the reporters.

You don’t really need to be, but an unusual series of crimes struck the pleasant plaza this past week:

APRIL 18 WEDNESDAY

Between 2:30 and 3 p.m., a woman attempted to cash a forged check at a shop in the 7000 block of Snider Plaza.

APRIL 21 SATURDAY

At 11 p.m., a Rowlett resident let someone sit in her silver 2007 Honda Civic, parked in the 6600 block of Snider Plaza. The victim told the suspect that he could not drive the vehicle. The victim left, and the suspect stole the $10,000 vehicle.

APRIL 23 MONDAY

Between noon and 5:30 p.m., a burglar broke into an unknown vehicle in the 6600 block of Snider Plaza and stole a $200 GPS and a $75 radio.

So, don’t let people sit in your Honda.

Photo: Chris Scifres

A car flipped at the intersection of Milton and Hursey early Sunday morning, and the driver fled before University Park Police could arrive, witnesses said.

The BMW SUV allegedly hit a parked vehicle and flipped onto its side. The driver then got out of the vehicle and ran away.

Police attempted to make contact with the man, but had not by Sunday morning, witnesses said. More on this as I figure it out.

Highland Park mayoral candidate Sam Tamborello had two magnetic campaign signs stolen from the front doors of his vehicle last Monday, HPDPS reports indicate.

The report says Tamborello left his Southern Avenue home for a run at 9:10 a.m., and upon his return at 10 a.m. found the two “Sam Tamborello for Mayor” signs missing. The two campaign signs in his front lawn remained.

There are no suspects.

From Highland Park DPS spokesman Lance Koppa:

I was alerted this morning by our CID Commander of a scam that is targeting individuals by phone. The story line is the same: A phone call is placed to your home phone. The caller will report that your son/grandson/daughter/(insert relative here) is in jail. The caller will even provide a city to you.

In our most recent case the city given was Houston. Once the caller gives you the location they will then direct you to make a wire transfer of money for the relative to,”…secure their release from jail.” Our last resident that received these phone calls notified HPDPS. The resident informed the responding officer that she was given a specific name and address in Mexico City to wire the money. While the officer was at her home taking the report the subject called back. The officer identified himself to the caller and he promptly disconnected.

Our department has not received a sudden rise in these reports; however, we wanted to make you aware of its existence.  Some individuals have wired money under the false belief that their relative is in trouble. This is just another attempt to victimize people by deception.

Moral of the story? Never answer the phone, ever.

A crash in Highland Park this morning was the result of a chase from Old East Dallas, Highland Park DPS reported.

Two robbery suspects allegedly stole a watch off a man’s wrist around 1:30 a.m. near Baylor Medical Center, then hopped in a gold Honda and fled. Undercover officers saw the vehicle on Oak Lawn Avenue, and gave chase. The suspects crashed into a tree in the 4800 block of Preston Road. The suspects were in serious condition, and taken to Parkland.

“What we did was we provided transport for the patients,” said Sgt. Lance Koppa. “And we supplied an engine because there was a little bit of extraction for the driver.”

The stolen watch was recovered by Dallas police.

An in-the-know commenter brought this Ozarks Sentinel article to my attention/inbox this morning. In it, reporter Kathee Baird cites a Taney County arrest warrant for Lee Julian Bradberry, a 22-year-old Alabama resident, for a slew of alleged sexual offenses at Kanakuk Kamps in July 2011. All the lewd details, and there are many of them, are documented in the probable cause statement.

Speaking of statements, Kanakuk apparently issued this one to the Ozark Sentinel as a reaction to the arrest warrant.

Today a Missouri prosecutor charged Lee Bradberry, a former collegiate, summer staffer, with six counts related to incidents involving three campers during July 2011. We terminated Bradberry from his position in July 2011 after campers reported one incident in which Bradberry behaved inappropriately. As soon as this first indication of inappropriate behavior was brought to our attention, we immediately dismissed Bradberry and reported his behavior to the parents of the campers involved, law enforcement and child protection authorities. Law enforcement and child protection authorities began an investigation at that time. The ensuing investigation led to the discovery of other inappropriate behavior and ultimately to today’s charges.

After a brief search on Kanakuk’s website, I can find no evidence of it online. Although I did find a rather thorough outline of the “Child Protection Plan.”