On Friday, Nov. 11, at 9:15 p.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department responded to the 2800 block of Wilshire Boulevard after they had received a report of vandalism. When the officers arrived at the scene they spoke with the victim, a taxi driver. This victim explained to the officers that he had been driving on Wilshire and had decided to pull over to the curb.
No sooner had he done this when a man had appeared from nowhere and attacked his cab, smashing the windshield with his fist, attempting to punch out the side windows, tearing off the passenger side mirror, and striking the hood of the cab (that’s just not fare!).
The victim had then called 9-1-1 and the man ran away. The officers went in search of this man and discovered him, whereupon he was identified by the victim who was then placed under a citizen’s arrest. The officers took this man to jail, and during the booking process he began to be non-compliant, and then bit the finger of the officer who was searching him.
Officers then used control holds to complete the search and positioned this strange fella inside a safety cell so that he could calm down. Eventually, this 51-year-old Marina del Rey resident was charged with vandalism, assault on a police officer, battery upon a police officer, and a probation violation. His bail was 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.
