A Santa Monica resident, 37, was arrested on Friday, Oct. 17 after grabbing a woman’s buttocks in public.
Officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were on patrol in the area of the 1400 block of Fourth Street at 7:08 pm on this day when they were flagged down by a woman who told them that a stranger had just molested her.
The woman said she had been talking on her cell phone when a man approached her and attempted to engage her in conversation.
The woman said she ignored the man’s approaches and proceeded to walk away from him.
She told the officers that he pursued her and when she continued to ignore him he grabbed her buttocks.
The woman then noticed the officers and made her complaint. The woman was able to point the suspect out to the officers who immediately took action and arrested this man.
This local resident was later charged with sexual battery. 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.