Pico Boulevard
Wednesday, April 30 at 12:05 a.m. – Pico Boulevard at 20th Street – A woman got off the Big Blue Bus and walked west on Pico toward 19th Street when she saw a man holding a black radio. He asked, “How are you doing?” as she passed him. As she reached her driveway, she felt a tug at her right shoulder, where she carried her purse. She turned and saw the same man, who took her purse and ran. She yelled for help and flagged down the SMC police, who called SMPD. Responding officers found the man hiding behind a trash receptacle at the Burger King at Pico and 20th; the purse was in the trash. The suspect, a Santa Monica resident, was arrested for grand theft from a person (as in, personally) and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Lincoln Boulevard
Wednesday, April 30 at 1:38 p.m. – Albertson’s market at Lincoln and Ocean Park Boulevards – Officers responded on an armed robbery call, and store employees reported that a man had taken a large bottle of Smirnoff vodka from the shelf, put it in his backpack, and left the store without paying. Employees contacted the fellow outside the store and asked to check his backpack and then asked for the bottle back. He pulled out a silver-colored box cutter and threatened them with it. The employees backed off, and the fellow took the bottle from his backpack, set it on the ground, and fled north on Lincoln. Officers located him at 7th Street and Highland, where they detained him. The man, a Los Angeles resident, was positively identified by the employees in a field show-up, and then arrested for armed robbery and parole violation.
Wilshire Boulevard
Friday, May 2 at 1:35 a.m. – Casa Escobar parking lot in the 2500 block of Wilshire Boulevard – Officers responded on an assault with a deadly weapon (ADW) call and found three men on the southeast corner of Wilshire and 25th Street, one of them bleeding profusely from the bridge of his nose. The paramedics were summoned, and he was treated at the scene. The other two men reported that the victim had been in a fight and was struck with a stick or other wooden object. They provided a description of the attacker, including his vehicle license number, which turned out to be registered to a Los Angeles man. When officers went to that address, they found the vehicle, “did a door knock,” and detained the man who answered. The victim positively identified the man in a field show-up, and he was arrested and booked for assault with a deadly weapon (the stick or other wooden object).
