As Santa Monica Police, with the help of a SWAT team, arrested a man suspected of armed robbery, they found 100 grams of methamphetamine (meth) along with a gun and ammunition on May 5.
But this story begins on April 23, when officers received a report about an armed robbery that had just occurred in the area of Ocean and Marguerita avenues. As officers were in transit to the location, they learned via their radio, the physical description of two suspects, and that one was armed with a handgun.
When officers arrived at the scene they could not find the suspects, but they spoke with the two victims. The victims told the officers that they had been walking east on Marguerita Avenue when the two suspects confronted them. One of the suspects produced a handgun and ordered both of the victims to give them all of their property. Afterward, the suspects told them to walk away and to not call the police. The suspects fled the scene.
The case was turned over to detectives who discovered the suspects’ vehicle description. One of the victims later identified the registered owner of the vehicle as being one of the suspects. On Thursday, May 5, members of the Santa Monica Police Department’s SWAT team, along with detectives, served a search and arrest warrant at the residence of the registered owner of the vehicle. During the search, officers located a handgun, ammunition, and more than 100 grams of methamphetamine. This suspect, a 30-year-old Los Angeles man, was charged with robbery and a parole violation. He was not eligible for bail, and the investigation is ongoing.
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
