Here's an interesting story out of Washington County. The copyright piracy squad from the music recording industry took a little trip from Los Angeles to Portland this weekend. They raided a flea market out in Hillsboro and busted some folks who were selling pirated CDs and DVDs. Some 50,000 disks were confiscated.

What's especially amusing to me was the reaction of many other vendors in the crowd when it became clear that a police raid was about to take place:

When dozens of police officers arrived about 12:30 p.m. today to serve a search warrant at M&M, there were about 200 customers wandering booths that sell food, clothing, jewelry, trinkets, car parts, music and movies. While police blocked the entrance, a steady stream of drivers and pedestrians approached the gate at 346 S.W. Walnut St., hoping to get in and wondering what was happening.

"There were some vendors who ran and left their money behind, and some grabbed their money and booked," Wandell said. "But there were no problems, and it was very orderly."

It reminds me of a story that a prosecutor I know tells, of a police raid of a bar in a large city back east some years back. The police were there to bust the bar owner for operating illegal video poker machines in the rear of the establishment, but the patrons present at the time had no way of knowing that. As the cops burst through the front door, the customers standing at the bar starting slipping all sorts of items -- mostly guns and drugs -- out of their pockets onto the floor. When the officers' intentions became clear, they all bent down and picked up their belongings once again. "Hey, it's cool, bro," said one. "They're just here for the Joker Poker!"