A 57-year-old homeless man was arrested on Thursday, March 7 after following a McDonald’s customer out of the restaurant and into parking lot, then pointing a replica gun at the person’s head for no apparent reason.
At 10:10 pm officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were called out to the parking lot of the McDonald’s at 2809 Lincoln Boulevard after they had received a report of a man who was brandishing a gun.
The victim had also informed the 911 operator that the suspect was at that time walking away from where the incident in a southbound direction on Lincoln Boulevard.
When the officers arrived they spoke with the victim who directed them towards the suspect.
The officers took the suspect into custody without any resistance.
The officers then interviewed the victim in greater detail and discovered that he had been sitting inside the aforementioned fast food eatery dining alone when the suspect entered the restaurant and sat at the victim’s table, uninvited.
The victim, somewhat taken aback by this intrusion, made the decision to relocate himself to another table in order to avoid any problems, and there he finished eating his meal.
The victim then arose from the table and walked outside whereupon the suspect confronted him.
The suspect then challenged the victim to a fight. The victim declined this combat offer and proceeded to enter his vehicle.
At that point the suspect pulled a handgun out of the shopping cart that he possessed, and pointed the weapon directly at the victim’s head.
The victim ducked down and the suspect began to walk away.
The victim then summoned the police via his cellular telephone.
The officers discovered the suspect was indeed in possession of a replica .45-caliber handgun, and so they confiscated it from him.
This homeless man was arrested and charged with displaying a replica firearm, a violation of probation, and an outstanding warrant.
Bail was set at $15,571.
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.
