On Saturday, May 19, at 3:20 a.m. units of the Santa Monica Police Department were on routine patrol when they heard a report of a road-rage incident over their radio, so they rushed to the scene, namely the area of 20th Street and Pico Boulevard.
The victims had reported that a suspect vehicle was following them. The officers soon made contact with the victims in the 3400 block of Pico Boulevard.
The officers then spoke with the victims, three females, all of whom were crying and emotionally distressed.
The officers heard that these women had stopped at a gas station near Imperial Highway and Sepulveda Boulevard in order to inflate a tire, when a silver SUV occupied by five men pulled up alongside them.
At first the women thought that these men were going to assist them, but it took no time at all for them to realize that they were showing absolutely no interest in helping, but were intent on flirting with the women in order to realize other, more basic desires.
During this activity one of the women, who was heavily intoxicated, began to dance with some of the men from the SUV (on the forecourt of the gas station?) but the driver of the female’s vehicle was able to make her understand that this was perhaps not the most sensible thing to do, and persuaded her to re-enter the vehicle.
They then all drove away from the gas station, but noticed that the silver SUV had begun to follow them. The female driver then started going northbound towards Santa Monica and did not think that they were being followed anymore. When they entered the Santa Monica city limits they again pulled over (in the area of the beach and Pico Boulevard) so they could check their tire pressure once more.
While they were checking the tires the SUV with the five males pulled up behind them and these men began to make verbal advances towards the three women. These advances were ignored and this led one of the men to become highly agitated and he punched the female driver in the face, injuring her bottom lip. The three women then got back into their vehicle and fled.
The five men then got into their silver SUV and began to chase them.
The silver SUV then rammed the side of the women’s vehicle in an attempt to stop them, causing the women to fear for their lives. It was then that one of the women had called the police for assistance.
Other responding officers had been able to stop the silver SUV at 33rd Street and Pico Boulevard after hearing the radio transmission. The officers conducted an in-field show up by two of the female victims who positively identified the five men, and after investigating the case the officers arrested two of these men.
Charges of assault with a deadly weapon, and assault and battery were leveled at a 25-year-old resident of Hawthorne, and a 27-year-old resident of Los Angeles.
Bail was set at $20,000 and $30,000 respectively.
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.
