Santa Monica police arrested a heavily intoxicated 57-year-old man Thursday, Aug. 22 who had pulled over on the side of the road and could not stand up straight after getting outside the vehicle.
At 1:12 am officers of the Santa Monica Police Department who were on patrol noticed a stopped vehicle in the number one lane of the southbound carriageway of 20th Street.
Since the vehicle had its hazard warning lights flashing, the officers decided to approach the vehicle from the rear in order to discover what the problem was.
The officers then noticed a man exit the vehicle via the driver side door and as he did so this man almost fell over, and had to make a grab for the door in order to stay upright.
The officers approached this man and detected the unmistakable odor of alcohol upon the man’s breath and person.
They also noticed that his eyes were watery and bloodshot, suggesting that this man was very, very drunk.
The officers instructed this man to sit down on the curb, and they then saw that the vehicle had sustained some damage to the front end, suggesting that it had collided with something.
The officers then decided to summon the assistance of the California Highway Patrol.
As they were waiting for CHP officers to arrive the driver suddenly arose and made attempts to walk away.
The officers told this man to “sit down,” however he stumbled backwards and almost fell over again.
The officers attempted to aid this man from falling over but he responded by attacking them.
The officers then handcuffed this man and arrested him.
This LA resident was charged with assault on a police officer.
His 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.
