On Wednesday, June 20, at 11:45 p.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were on routine patrol in the area of Ocean Park Boulevard and Neilson Way when they chanced upon a man lying on the corner sidewalk.
When this man caught sight of the police officers he arose from his lying position and began to walk away.
The man’s walk was unorthodox, with a definite unsteady gait, characteristic of someone who may have been drinking, the officers observed.
As the officers were watching this man, another man in a wheelchair propelled himself up to the officers and told them that just prior to their arrival the man who was walking away had pushed him out of his wheelchair and onto the ground for no apparent reason.
The wheelchair bound victim also stated that this man was indeed drunk, as the officers had earlier surmised.
The officers then went after the walking man and arrested him for public intoxication.
The victim also signed a private person’s arrest for the assault.
This 46-year-old homeless man was taken to jail and charged with battery, public intoxication, a violation of probation and another miscellaneous warrant.
His bail was set at $21,305.
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.
