Once Bitten, Twice Shy.
On Sunday, July 10, at 1:54 a.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were called out to the 2400 block of the Santa Monica Beach in order to investigate a report of possible domestic violence. While the officers were heading towards the location they were informed by dispatch that the victim had claimed that his boyfriend had struck him in the chest and face about 30 minutes prior to his summoning of police assistance. The officers were then updated with the couple’s new location which was said to have been at the intersection of Main Street and Strand Street. When the officers arrived at that location they spoke with the couple and learned that this man and his boyfriend had been involved in an argument over their relationship and cohabitation arrangements when the suspect had suddenly picked the victim up by his arms and had thrown him down to the ground. The victim added that his boyfriend had then kicked and punched him in the head. The victim also said that the only way that he was able to get away was to bite his boyfriend’s finger as the boyfriend held him down on the ground. The officers arrested the boyfriend, aged 24 and from South Gate, and he was charged with domestic violence. Bail was set at $50,000.
Life Is Difficult.
On Tuesday, July 12, at 3:45 p.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were on patrol in their police cruiser in the area of Second Street and Broadway when they were approached by security guards from the Santa Monica Place Mall. The security guards were anxious that the officers apprehend a man who at that time was seen to be walking briskly away from the guards. The officers exited their police cruiser and, in order to ascertain what had happened, detained the speedily walking suspect. While one officer detained the suspect the other spoke with the security guards and learned that this man was suspected of stealing an iPhone from the mall. The officers then began to ask the suspect about these allegations and this suspect compounded his already unenviable circumstances by deciding to yell profanities at the officers as well as at numerous random citizens who were walking past the scene. The officers decided at that point to restrain this man by placing him in handcuffs while they conducted a search of his person. The man however made life difficult for himself and the officers by attempting to fight the officers and make an escape. The officers soon subdued this man and discovered that he was indeed in possession of the stolen iPhone in addition to a knife. This 26-year-old Los Angeles resident was arrested and charged with possession of a deadly weapon, obstructing police officers, theft and a violation of parole. Bail was set at $10,000.
The Strong Arms Of The Law.
On Tuesday, July 12, at 5:50 a.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were conducting a routine check underneath the south side of the Santa Monica Pier when they spotted a homeless man sleeping at the location in violation of a Santa Monica Municipal Code that prohibits such (non) activity. The officers were in the process of issuing this man with a citation and when the officers said that they had to check the name that the man had given to them he told the officers that he had decided to leave. The officers told this man that he could not leave until his information had been verified but the man suddenly grabbed his bag and made a run for it towards the north side of the pier. Other officers who had been conducting similar checks at the north side of the pier stood in the path of this man and he ran straight into their arms and was detained. The officers then learned that the name that the man had given to them was fictitious and that this man actually had a no-bail warrant for his arrest. The officers arrested this 30-year-old homeless man and he was charged with providing false information, a municipal code violation and a violation of parole. Bail was not granted.
Big Mac Wack.
On Wednesday, July 13, at 6:22 a.m. an officer of the Santa Monica Police Department, who was on patrol in the Lincoln Boulevard area, spotted two women and a man who appeared to be involved in some kind of altercation at the intersection of Lincoln Boulevard and Ocean Park Boulevard. This officer immediately called for backup and other officers soon arrived at the scene. The officers then separated the three individuals and ascertained that a battery had occurred moments earlier at the McDonald’s fast food emporium located in the 2800 block of Lincoln Boulevard. The officers questioned the three people and discovered that the suspect, one of the women, had followed the victim (the other female) into the bathroom of the restaurant and for no apparent reason had punched her in the face and the arm. The suspect had then ran out of the restaurant only to be followed by the victim’s boyfriend on his bicycle. After following the suspect for a short distance northbound on Lincoln Boulevard the boyfriend had been joined by the victim and it was a few moments later that the officer had noticed the three people arguing. The officers arrested the suspect, aged 41 and homeless, and she was charged with battery and a violation of probation. Bail was set at $20,000.
Editor’s Note: These reports are part of a regular police coverage series entitled “Alert Police Blotter” (APB), which injects some minor editorial into certain police activities in Santa Monica. Not all of The Mirror’s coverage of incidents involving police are portrayed in this manner. More serious crimes and police-related activities are regularly reported without editorial in the pages of the Santa Monica Mirror and its website, smmirror.com.
