On Saturday, March 5, at 8:03 p.m. an officer was on patrol in the area of the 1900 block of Pico Boulevard when he observed a young man standing on the sidewalk dressed in nothing but basketball shorts. Given that it was a cold evening, and there did not appear to be a basketball game occurring in the vicinity, the officer examined further.
The officer noticed that this young man was clenching his fists, tensing his muscles, and jerking his head up and down. The officer considered these symptoms as possible evidence that this young man was under the influence of PCP (phenylcyclohexylpiperidine, also known as Angel Dust). The officer was therefore concerned of the possibility of this young man becoming confrontational with passing citizens, and so he decided to keep an eye on the situation. The officer drove past this man a couple of times and then decided to engage him in conversation. The man ignored the officer and began to walk in a westbound direction. The officer continued to attempt to talk with this man and the man continued to ignore the officer. When the man arrived at the intersection of 11th Street and Pico Boulevard he crossed the street while facing a red light, and so the officer attempted to stop this man for that violation. By now additional officers had arrived at the scene in order to assist with the detention of this possibly PCP-crazed man. The man continued to ignore verbal instructions from the officers but after a period of time the officers were able to detain him after a brief pulling-away attempt by the man.
This man was arrested by the officers and charged with obstruction of justice, and the traffic violation. His bail was set at $10,000.
Editor’s Note: This report is part of 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 the Santa Monica Mirror and its website, smmirror.com.
