A 19-year-old Los Angeles man was arrested on Saturday, May 31 after attracting attention in a Santa Monica beach parking lot that he was under the influence of alcohol.
Officers of the Santa Monica Police Department received a radio transmission at 2:24 pm on this day informing them that there was a reckless driver who could possibly be under the influence of alcohol or drugs in the public parking lot located at 1550 Pacific Coast Highway.
A Santa Monica Harbor Patrol Guard had spotted this person driving in pointless circles at a high rate of speed.
The Guard had then seen the driver park the vehicle at the north end of the parking lot.
The Guard had driven over and parked the Harbor Patrol vehicle directly behind the suspect vehicle, and then announced over his public address system that the driver must stay in the vehicle.
The police arrived shortly afterwards and interviewed the driver.
The officers detected the odor of alcohol on this man’s breath and after conducting a field sobriety test concluded that he was indeed likely to be under the influence of alcohol.
This Los Angeles resident was arrested and charged with driving under the influence.
Bail information was not available at the time of going to press.
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.
