On Friday, July 1, at 2:10 p.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department went to the Nike Store located at 395 Santa Monica Place in response to a report of a fraud that was occurring. When the officers arrived at the scene they spoke with the store employees who told them that a pair of suspects had entered the store and made some rapid selections of merchandise that had a total value of almost $1,000.
The two men then attempted to pay for these items by using two fraudulent gift cards. As they were attempting to do this, the police were called, and the officers detained the two men as they (the suspects) were attempting to leave the store. The officers conducted an investigation, and discovered that the two suspects had already used stolen and fraudulent credit cards in order to purchase other items at a number of Santa Monica retail outlets.
The officers arrested the two men, one a 36-year-old, and the other a 35-year-old, both Los Angeles residents, and they were charged with grand theft, forging, and possessing an access card, fraudulent use of an access card, and grand theft of an access card. They both had bail set at $20,000.
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
