On Thursday, May 31, at 1:05 a.m. a patrol officer from the Santa Monica Police Department was on duty in the 7/11 store located at 630 Wilshire Boulevard when a woman suddenly threw a handful of pennies at the store clerk.
These pennies struck the clerk in the face and chest.
The woman then began to walk out of the store as if nothing had happened.
The officer, who had just witnessed this, called out to the woman and asked her to halt.
The woman ignored the officer, so the officer grabbed her left arm in order to apprehend her at which time the woman turned and tried to slap the officer several times in the face.
The officer was able to deflect the blows with his arms and then stopped the woman from escaping by applying a control hold to her.
The officer then handcuffed this woman.
The store clerk did not want to pursue a prosecution, but the woman was arrested anyway for attempting to slap the officer.
When they arrived at the jail, the officer discovered this woman was on probation for another assault against police officers (a habit?).
This 32-year-old woman, who was homeless, was charged with battery upon a police officer, resisting a police officer, and a violation of probation. Her 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.
