Santa Monica police arrested a 31-year-old man on Thursday, May 9 shortly after he committed a strong-arm robbery, then caused another disturbance in the nearby area.
At 9 pm officers of the SMPD rushed to the area of 16th Street and Santa Monica Boulevard after they had heard of the strong-arm robbery.
When the officers arrived they spoke with the victim who told them he had been walking westbound along the 1500 block of Santa Monica Boulevard when the suspect approached him from behind and put his arm around him as they walked, suggesting to possible onlookers that they were good buddies.
The suspect then informed the victim that he wanted all of his money.
The victim attempted to break away from the “hug” but was pulled closer and tighter by the suspect. The suspect then punched the victim in the back of his head and stole the hat he was wearing, then walked away eastbound on Santa Monica Boulevard.
The victim then used his cellphone and called the police. As the officers were taking this report they were notified, via their radios, that there was a disturbance in progress in the 2000 block of Delaware Avenue, so they hastened to that location.
When they arrived at the second location, the officers determined that one of the people involved in the disturbance was the suspect in the hat robbery on Santa Monica Boulevard.
The victim positively identified this suspect, and the hat was retrieved from a nearby trash can.
The officers arrested the suspect of no fixed abode, and he was charged with robbery. Bail was set at $50,000.
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.
