On Friday, May 4, at 10:57 p.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department responded to a radio call informing them of a traffic collision involving a motorcycle that had happened at the intersection of Neilson Way and Pier Avenue.
As the officers were en route to the scene they were informed that a witness had reported that the motorcyclist was attempting to ride away, and that he appeared to be intoxicated.
The first arriving officer at the scene was a Sergeant who immediately transmitted a call for assistance when the motorcyclist attempted to assault him by pushing the motorcycle over his legs.
The man then attacked the Sergeant.
When the other officers arrived the Sergeant and the motorcyclist were fighting so the officers joined in the fight and eventually took the motorcyclist down to the ground. This man was then handcuffed and placed into the back seat of a police car.
The Sergeant had received a bite wound from the man during the fight, even though several witnesses had come to the aid of the Sergeant prior to the arrival of the other officers.
While the man was in the back of the police car he managed to slip his hands to the front of his body and attempted to kick out the back window of the vehicle.
The officers recovered a knife, a screwdriver, wire-cutters, and a metal file that the man had dropped during the altercation.
The officers investigated further and found that the motorcycle had been stolen earlier in the evening, so they contacted the owner who then identified the machine.
The suspect was taken to a local hospital for treatment to some minor wounds that he had suffered during the fight.
The Sergeant suffered minor injuries to his arms, legs and chin as a result of the incident.
This 35-year-old Apple Valley resident was charged with resisting officers causing injury, vehicle theft, receiving stolen property, battery on emergency personnel, possession of burglary tools, driving under the influence, and a parole violation.
He was not granted bail.
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.
