A 20-year-old man was arrested on Saturday, May 16, shortly after entering a residence, asking if it was for sale.
Officers of the Santa Monica Police Department received a report of suspicious circumstances at 8 am at a residence in the 500 block of Palisades Avenue, so they went to the location in order to investigate.
Upon arrival the officers spoke with the homeowner who told them that he had received a call from his house guest who was visiting from Australia.
He said that the house guest had told him that she had been in the home alone when she had heard the back door of the residence being opened and that a few moments later a man had entered her bedroom.
The homeowner added that the house guest had confronted the intruder and that the intruder had at that point asked the house guest if the house was for sale.
The homeowner stated that the house guest had told this man that the house was not for sale at which point the man had exited through the rear door.
The house guest had told the homeowner that she had not been sure whether the rear door had been locked at the time of the incident.
The officers searched the area and soon discovered a man who fit the description given to them by the homeowner in the 200 block of Palisades Avenue.
After the houseguest had positively identified this man the officers arrested him and he was later charged with burglary. 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.
