Santa Monica police arrested three men on Thursday, Oct. 10 after being caught in a “hot wired” Honda Civic that they had stolen.
Officers of the Santa Monica Police Department on a routine patrol noticed a blue 1999 Honda Civic moving in a suspicious fashion in the area of 14th Street and Pico Boulevard at 2:25 am on this day.
The officers followed this vehicle and it was soon obvious to the officers that the vehicle was attempting to elude them.
The vehicle began to run through stop signs at 14th Street and Pearl Avenue and then at 14th Street and Grant Street.
The vehicle then accelerated quickly and came to a stop in the cul-de-sac in the 1500 block of Grant Street.
The officers parked, placing their patrol car in such a way as to negate any possibility that the suspect vehicle would be able to exit the cul-de-sac.
The officers then ordered the three occupants of the vehicle to exit.
The officers then investigated and discovered that the steering column cover had been removed exposing the ignition wires, and therefore that it had been “hot wired.”
The vehicle was also unreported stolen vehicle from Los Angeles. The driver of the vehicle admitted that he did not have a drivers’ license and all three of these men confessed to belonging to a street gang.
The police contacted the owners of the vehicle and confirmed that it was indeed stolen.
The arrested individuals, a 22-year-old from Norwalk (bail $75,000), a 23-year-old from Los Angeles (bail $75,000), and a 28-year-old from Cypress (no bail granted) were all charged with grand theft, gang membership, and receiving stolen property.
The 28-year-old was also charged with a violation of parole.
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.
