A 23-year-old homeless man was arrested and charged with assault and theft on Tuesday, Jan. 27, after stealing three protein bars from a Main Street business.
Officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were called out to investigate a strong-arm robbery at Beyond O2 Water at 2209 Main St. in Santa Monica at an unspecified time.
When the officers arrived they spoke with an employee who said that a man had entered the premises and had selected three protein bars from a display.
The man had then put the bars into his jacket pocket and had attempted to walk out of the store without paying for them.
The employee told the officers that she had stepped in front of the man in order to impede his exit from the premises.
The employee added that she had asked the man to pay for the protein bars or replace them on the shelf but the man had simply pushed her out of the way and left the store.
The officers broadcast a description of the man over their radio and soon afterwards other officers walking along Santa Monica Beach bike path spotted a man fitting this description.
The man was detained and the store employee driven to the location by the police in order to identify the individual.
The store employee positively identified the man as being the same one who had taken the protein bars and pushed her, so this homeless man was arrested and charged with assault and theft.
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.
