On Wednesday, Jan. 18, at 1:58 p.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department went to Nordstrom, the department store, located at 220 Broadway because they had been given a report that the store’s loss prevention agents had a theft suspect in custody.
When they arrived at the scene they spoke with the agents in order to uncover the facts of the matter.
The agents told the officers that a woman had been seen walking into the store, selecting a dress from the display rack, walking over to the fitting rooms, and entering. When the woman exited from the fitting rooms, the agents noticed that she was not carrying the dress. At that point the agents went into the fitting room where two coat hangers were left hanging, bereft of any dress.
They agents then saw the woman leave the store. The agents apprehended this woman outside the store and escorted her back inside and into a private office, where the missing dress was discovered concealed under her own clothing.
The agents recovered the dress. The suspect, a 25-year-old homeless woman, was placed under citizen’s arrest and taken to jail, where she was charged with petty (coat?) theft, and possibly given a dressing down. Her bail was set at $1,000.
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.
