Police in Santa Monica arrest a homeless man who struck a woman’s hand to knock her cell phone out of it, then kicked her armed when she tried to bend over and pick it up.
On Saturday, July 9, at 6:26 p.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department went to the area of Sixth Street and Wilshire Boulevard to investigate a report of assault and vandalism. When they arrived at the scene the officers spoke with the victim who told them that she and a friend had just left a store located at Lincoln and Wilshire boulevards when a man approached and hit her hand while saying, “Get that out of your hand,” and thus knocking her cellphone out of her hand.
The victim then tried to pick up her cellphone but the man kicked her arm and prevented her from doing so. The victim and the witness followed the man while calling the police, and the police eventually detained this man at the corner of Sixth Street and Wilshire Boulevard. The police arrested this alleged phone thief and he was charged with battery, vandalism, and an outstanding warrant. The bail for this 37-year-old homeless man was set at $21,000.
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
