East Meets West.
On Monday, February 29, at 8:45pm officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were informed that a vehicle had been involved in an accident in the 1500 block of Wilshire Boulevard. The officers were told that the car had been travelling in a westbound direction when it suddenly veered across the street into the eastbound lanes and collided with another parked vehicle that had been situated at the curb. When the officers arrived at the scene they spoke with the driver of the vehicle that had veered across the lanes and deduced from his demeanor that he was not only under the influence of alcohol but that he could also be suffering the effects of drugs. This man was taken into custody where he submitted to a Breathalyzer test. The test revealed that this man was slightly under the legal limit. This man was then taken to an area hospital where a blood test was taken so that the officers could discover exactly which kind of drugs the man had been taking. It is not known which drugs this man had taken at the time of going to press but it is known that this 20-year-old Simi Valley resident was charged with driving while intoxicated. Bail was set at $15,000.
Imaginary Friend.
On Thursday, March 3, at 8:20am officers of the Santa Monica Police department responded to a report of vandalism that had occurred the intersection of 19th Street and Santa Monica Boulevard. When the officers arrived at the location they spoke with a witness who told them that a woman had visited the used car lot and had begun to stab a stick into the trunk area of one of the vehicles that was situated on the lot for sale. The officers then spotted the woman who was still standing on the lot at the time of the officers’ arrival. The officers noticed that the back-up camera of one of the vehicles had been broken off the vehicle in question and had been placed on top of that vehicle’s trunk. The officers also noticed that this car had numerous scratches on the paintwork. The officers asked the woman about the damage and she admitted to being responsible for the damage. The officers did not believe that this woman was under the influence of a controlled substance but they did consider her to be delusional. The woman told the officers that she had been playing “hide the cars” with “a friend” and that she had “left her camera in the trunk of this car,” and that she needed to retrieve it. The officers explained to this woman that her camera was not inside the vehicle and they then arrested this 36-year-old resident of Santa Monica and she was later charged with intent to commit burglary in addition to several outstanding warrants. Bail was denied.
Some Things Take Time.
This story began on January 25, 2016, when, at 3:00pm the victim of a robbery that had taken place at a store called 800 Degrees flagged officers of the Santa Monica Police Department down. This store is a specialty pizza business and the victim told the officers that he had posted his Rolex watch for sale on the community web site craigslist.com and that he had arranged to meet the prospective buyer at this pizza restaurant. The victim told the officers that the prospective buyer had tried the watch on and that the man had suddenly used a pepper spray to disable the victim. He added that he had attempted to fight the suspect and that the fight had taken them both out to the sidewalk outside 800 Degrees where they had rolled around on the ground. He said that the suspect had managed to break free and run away. The victim had, at that time, been able to hold onto the small can of pepper spray that the suspect had used and attending officers also collected other items of evidence from the scene of the crime. Detectives assigned to the case performed a thorough and diligent investigation and on Thursday, March 3, 2016, the suspect, aged 18 and a Los Angeles resident was arrested and charged with robbery. Bail was set at $50,000.
Unclean.
On Thursday, March 3, at 12:00pm officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were called out to a motel, located in the 2000 block of 14th Street, in order to investigate a report of one occupant harassing another occupant. When the officers arrived at the location they spoke with a witness who told them that the suspect had been yelling rudely at the janitorial staff at the motel. She said that another occupant had heard all the commotion and had stood in the doorway of her room with her son standing behind her. The witness added that the suspect had then begun to shout and yell at this other occupant and had made some threatening remarks towards the other occupant and her son. The officers then spoke with this other occupant who correlated the statements made by the witness and also added that due to some of the remarks made by the suspect towards herself and her son she had been in fear of her life, as well as the life of her son. The officers then knocked on the door of the room that the suspect was occupying and spoke with him. This man said that he had become upset because he did not think that his room had been cleaned to a standard that he thought he deserved. This 24-year-old man of an unknown place of residence was arrested and charged with making criminal threats. Bail was set at $30,000.
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.
