Basket Case.
On Thursday, February 25, at 5:15am an alarm was triggered at a pharmacy, located in the 1200 block of Montana Avenue, after two suspects had attempted to shatter a glass door of the business with a hammer. A few moments later two witnesses who were walking near a second pharmacy, located in the 900 block of Wilshire Boulevard, heard two men banging on the door of the pharmacy. These witnesses went to the location in order to see what was happening. The witnesses noticed that the doors to this business were open so they entered the pharmacy in order to ascertain whether or not there was a problem. When these witnesses entered the building they were startled by one of the suspects who ordered them to get out of his way. At that moment one of the witnesses grabbed a wicker basket with which to defend himself but the suspect ran past him As the second suspect appeared and attempted to run past the witness the witness struck the second suspect with the wicker basket on his back and the other witness kicked this suspect on the leg. Despite these attempts to immobilize the suspect both of the suspects escaped in their vehicle that was parked nearby. The witnesses called the police and gave them a description of the suspected burglars and officers of the Santa Monica Police Department spotted the car as it attempted to reach the I-10 Freeway. The officers conducted a felony traffic stop and the suspects were then both positively identified by the witnesses and arrested. These suspects, one aged 22 and a resident of Victorville (bail set at $20,000) and the other aged 18 of Long Beach (bail amount unknown) were later charged with burglary.
Pants On Fire.
On Saturday, February 27, at 3:30pm officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were on routine patrol in the area of the 1500 block of Ocean Avenue when their Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) alerted them to the presence of a possibly stolen vehicle in the area. The officers followed the suspect car and alerted other officers in the area so that when the suspect vehicle was confirmed by their computer system as being stolen the officers would receive back up from additional officers immediately. The suspect vehicle was indeed confirmed as being stolen so the officers stopped this vehicle and ordered the driver to slowly exit the car. The officers then spoke with the suspected car thief and he told them that a female friend had allowed him to borrow the car. The suspect gave the officers the phone number of this person. Initially the officers attempted to call the registered owner of the car but their calls repeatedly went to voicemail so they then called the number of the woman who the suspect had alleged had given him permission to use the vehicle. The officers spoke with this woman and she told them that the suspect had not been given permission to use the car but that he had in fact stolen her backpack the previous day. The officers eventually managed to speak with the registered owner of the vehicle on the phone and he stated that his ex-girlfriend had visited his residence a week prior and that they had become embroiled in an argument. He added that after this incident his car keys had gone missing and that the vehicle had been stolen from a location in the Los Angeles area shortly afterwards. Based upon the statements by the registered owner of the vehicle and the woman the officers decided that the suspect’s statements were false so they arrested this 28-year-old Los Angeles resident and he was later charged with grand theft auto. The suspect was also found to be on probation for burglary so bail was not granted.
Trust Me!
On Friday, February 26, at 1pm officers of the Santa Monica Police Department responded to a report of vandalism that had occurred in the 500 block of Pacific Coast Highway. When the officers arrived at the location they spoke with the victim who told them that he had arrived at the parking lot at about 9am that day and that when he returned to his car at 12 noon he had noticed a black jacket lying on the trunk of his car. The victim said that he then looked closely at his vehicle and noticed that someone had caused considerable damage to the vehicle. He added that he had spotted a homeless woman wandering around in circles nearby so he asked this woman if she had seen anyone vandalize his car. She said that she had vandalized the car and that she had done this because she “had trust issues and was trying to learn and teach.” The officers arrested this 27-year-old homeless woman and she was charged with felony vandalism Bail was set at $20,000.
Night Crawler.
On Wednesday, February 24, at 4:30am officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were called out to a residence located in the 700 block of Palisades Beach Road in order to investigate a burglary report. The officers were told that that a man had just jumped out of a window at the residence and had been last seen running towards the beach. When the officers arrived at the scene they spoke with one of the victims who told them that she had been asleep with two of her children when her one of her children had called out to her telling her that a man was touching her. She said that this man had then touched her over her clothing by running his hands on her covered breasts and buttocks. The said that when she asked this man what he thought he was doing he had simply responded by telling her that it, “was okay.” She added that she had encouraged this man to leave her home by escorting him to the patio doors, whereupon the man had climbed down the patio and headed towards the beach. The officers then spoke with the victim’s husband who told them that he hadn’t heard anything but that his wife had informed him about the incident. Further investigation disclosed that the intruder had also kissed the neck of an additional victim, who is a minor. The officers scoured the area and conducted field show-ups of two individuals. These explorations proved to be negative and so the officers handed the case over to the Crime Investigation Division. This unit arrested a 25-year-old homeless person the next day. This man is currently in custody facing numerous charges including burglary.
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
