“I Know Where You Live”
Sunday, February 25 at 11:30 p.m. – 2600 block of Ocean Park Boulevard – A transient man was walking down the sidewalk and was approached by a man and a woman, also transients, with whom he was acquainted. They asked if he had any beer or money; he said that he did not; an argument ensued. The couple (“Suspects”) hit the man, slugging him in the face with their fists. He went down. The Suspects left. He called the police. The man related these events to the responding officers and told them the location of an alcove at a local business establishment where the Suspects generally hung out. Following up on this information, the officers located the Suspects and arrested them for attempted robbery.
Evidence of Intent
Sunday, February 25 at 7:25 p.m. –Vons market at 710 Broadway – Two supermarket employees returning from a break were walking through the parking lot when they saw a broken Smirnoff vodka bottle with the store’s security cap still attached to it. (You know, those anti-theft plastic hoods that the checker removes with a special tool.) The employees then saw a man in the lot holding another such bottle (with the security cap still attached); he attempted to maneuver around a bicycle rack, fell and broke the bottle. The employees were reporting these events to their manager when the man walked into the store, took another bottle of Smirnoff from the shelf in the liquor department and left without paying (and presumably without having the security cap removed). Supermarket security detained the gentleman and called the police, who arrested him for commercial burglary. (SMPD Public Information Officer Lt. Alex Padilla explained that it was “commercial burglary” – rather than mere shoplifting – because there was evidence that the suspect entered the store with the intent to commit theft.)
Smoking (and Then Some)
Wednesday, February 28 at 4:00 p.m. – AM/PM minimart at 332 Pico Boulevard – Imagine my surprise when, while scanning the hundreds of “Calls for Service” listing incidents to which police responded last week, I saw an item described under “Incident Type” as smoking showing the “Disposition” as arrest. It seems that a fellow was hanging about outside the store panhandling and smoking next to a propane tank. In response to the requests/demands of a store employee, the fellow refused either to leave or to quit smoking. The police were summoned. Responding officers escorted the man off the property. A few hours later, the fellow returned. This time, police arrested him for trespass.
