Bail was not granted to a La Mirada man on Friday, June 5, after DNA evidence linked the suspect to a break-in and assault at a residence earlier this year.
This case began on Jan. 29, 2015 when officers of the Santa Monica Police Department received a request from other attending officers to assist in the search and collection of evidence of an apartment in Santa Monica where a man had been assaulted.
When the officers arrived on that date they could clearly see that there had been a struggle in the apartment.
They also noticed that there was a strong smell of bleach permeating the area.
The officers learned that the victim, a 67-year-old man, had been sleeping on his couch when he was woken up by the sound of an individual who was opening the sliding glass door leading to the balcony.
The victim then saw a man enter the room and a struggle ensued.
During this wrestle the suspect had thrown a liquid substance into the victim’s face and all over his clothing.
The liquid turned out to be bleach (bleach can cause severe burning to the eyes). After a few minutes of struggling the victim had been able to escape and had ran to a neighbor’s house for assistance.
The victim was unable to give an accurate description of the suspect other that he was a man aged about 50 to 60 years of age, around 5’6” tall and about 130 pounds in weight.
The officers had on that occasion collected DNA evidence from the scene.
On Friday, June 5 the results of diligent police work led to the DNA evidence matching that of a 58-year-old La Mirada resident (DNA evidence is considered to be 99.99 percent accurate).
This man was thus arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon, assault with caustic chemicals, and breaking and entering.
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.
