artful dodger

noun2

1. •
   A crafty person who commits minor crimes or behaves in a rather unscrupulous manner.

   • Timothy Mack has spent 13 years spiriting wallets from the pockets and purses of Los Angelenos, an artful dodger's career that has been interrupted by 20 arrests and two jail terms. — 1971
2. •
   One who deftly evades obstacles, pursuers, inconveniences, or other difficulties.

   • I was a pussyfoot, an artful dodger, sidestepping abandoned children, waifs and strays, foundlings, castaways, and junk-people. — 2003