Santa Monica police arrested a homeless man on Wednesday, Dec. 17, after this man made threats that he would shoot a Starbucks coffee shop employee, even though he wasn’t in possession of a gun.
Officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were called to the Starbucks in the 1300 block of Third Street Promenade at 9:40 pm in order to respond to a report of a man who had threatened employees with a gun.
The officers rushed to the scene and when they arrived they entered and were told by witnesses that the suspect was wearing a red hoodie.
In transpired that none of the witnesses had actually seen a gun per se, but the suspect had announced that he had one and had threatened to shoot an employee with the gun that he claimed to be in possession of.
Officers searched the area nonetheless and found a man that fit the description.
This man was detained and shortly afterwards a Starbuck’s employee made a positive identification.
The officers arrested this 27-year-old homeless man and he was charged with making criminal threats. Bail was set at $50,000.
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.
