Santa Monica police arrested a 36-year-old Los Angeles man on Saturday, Jan. 11 after he stole a mp3 player from a Rite-Aid store.
Officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were requested to attend a theft incident at the Rite-Aid store at 9 am on this day, located at 13331 Wilshire Boulevard.
The officers were told that the suspect had refused to stop after being challenged by store security as he exited the store and had run away.
One officer who was heading toward the scene of the crime caught a glimpse of the described suspect, stopped and detained the man.
Other officers went to the store and obtained a statement from the security employee of Rite-Aid.
The officers learned that the suspect had entered the store, walked over to the razor blade stand, removed a razor blade from its packaging, continued to an mp3 player display stand, removed an mp3 player, cut open the packaging, removed the mp3 player and left the store without paying.
Officers escorted the store security personnel to the location where the suspect was being held where they identified him and the officers arrested this LA man according to the protocol of a private person’s arrest.
The suspect was later charged with burglary and theft with a prior conviction.
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.
