A 40-year-old homeless man was arrested on Sunday, April 20 after being caught trying to steal a cell phone and a pair of scissors from a Santa Monica Rite-Aid store.
At an hour that was not available to The Mirror at time of press, officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were driving through the parking lot of 1331 Wilshire Boulevard when they were flagged down by an employee of Rite-Aid.
The employee told the officers that they were detaining someone who had allegedly attempted to steal items from the store.
The officers immediately rushed into the store and took control of the suspect under the provisions afforded to them by the request of a private person’s arrest request made by the Rite-Aid employee.
The officers searched this suspect and discovered a pair of scissors and a cell phone with a combined value of $65.
This homeless man was charged with theft. Bail was set at $1,000.
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.
