No Smoke Without Fire.
On Tuesday, Jan. 10, at 7:52 a.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department went to the “One Stop Shop,” located at 314 Santa Monica Boulevard, in order to investigate a theft report.
When they arrived they spoke with the manager of the “One Stop Shop” who said that the suspect had asked for a packet of cigarettes. When the manager told him the price of the cigarettes, the suspect stated that he did not have the money, so he demanded the manager give him the cigarettes for free.
The manager understandably did not think this to be a reasonable request, and so returned the cigarettes to the shelf. The suspect then walked around behind the counter in a threatening way, and physically took the cigarettes for himself. The manager, a woman, thought that the suspect was going to hurt her so she did not resist his actions.
The suspect walked out of the store, but not before he had also picked up a disposable lighter. The officers went in search of the suspect and found him a short distance away (smoking the evidence?). The officers attempted to detain this man, but he put up a fiery resistance that required the officers to take him down to the ground. While he was on the ground the man continued to resist and would not allow the officers to handcuff him, so the officers decided to extinguish his efforts to resist by deploying their X26 Taser.
They also used an ankle restraint and eventually cooled him down enough to take him into custody. During this battle, the cigarettes and lighter fell out of his pockets onto the ground. The suspect was identified, and after a stop at a nearby hospital to check him out, he was taken to jail. This 22-year-old homeless man was charged with robbery and resisting officers. His bail was set at $50,000.
