Santa Monica police arrested a man with bulging pockets on Thursday, July 31 after being found in possession of items that did not belong to him, including a car key, Samsung phone, Drivers’ License, and Visa card.
Officers of the Santa Monica Police Department who were on patrol in the area of Christine Reed Park observed a man inside the park at 5:10 am – a violation of the park opening hours.
The officers approached the man and noticed that his pants pockets were bulging and his pants appeared to be unusually weighted down.
The officers asked this man if he had any illegal items in his pants to which he responded with the words, “I don’t think so.”
The officers concluded that this response was somewhat suspicious so they asked the man if they could take a look inside his pants, the man consented.
Inside this man’s pants the officers discovered a California Drivers’ License and a Visa debit card that did not belong to the suspect.
The officers delved deeper and found a Ford car key as well as a Samsung smart phone.
The suspect claimed that he had found these items on the ground about two or three day’s prior. He added that he had intended to turn them in to the police but was unable to locate a police officer.
The officers arrested this 47-year-old Santa Monica resident for appropriation of lost property as well as violation of a municipal code prohibiting him from being in the park at that time.
Bail was set at $500.
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.
