Trailer Stash.
On Tuesday, March 22, at 8:45 a.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were called out to the 2100 block of Stewart Street in order to assist a motor officers who was at that time detaining both a suspect and a victim in regard to a possible assault. A few minutes earlier the motor officer had spotted the suspect being chased by the victim southbound on the east sidewalk of Stewart Avenue from Kansas Avenue. The motor officer had commanded both men to halt and had spoken with them. The suspect apparently told the motor officer that he was under the influence of heroin and hallucinogenic (or “magic”) mushrooms and that he had no idea why the other man was chasing him. The attending officers spoke with the second man (victim) who told them that he was the manager of a nearby trailer park and that this suspect had been loitering in the trailer park and acting in a strange and unorthodox manner (the hallucinogenic mushrooms may have been the reason). The victim added that he had asked the suspect to leave the trailer park and that the suspect had responded by becoming enraged and had swung a punch at the victim that had grazed his shoulder. The victim said that it was then that the chase had ensued and that the motor officer had intervened. After searching the suspect (and discovering a stash of various controlled substances and drug paraphernalia) the officers arrested the suspect, aged 24 and homeless, and he was charged with being under the influence of a controlled substance, possession of numerous controlled substances, possession of drug paraphernalia, and assault and battery. Bail was set at $20,000.
Phone Homing.
On Wednesday, March 23, at 2:55 a.m. officers of the Santa Monica police Department received a radio call informing them that a strong-arm robbery had just occurred in the 1300 block of 16th Street so the officers sped to the scene in order to investigate. When the officers arrived at the location they met with the victim who told them that he had been walking in the area when he had chanced upon a man who was lying on the sidewalk. The victim said that this man was yelling and kicking at a parked vehicle that was situated next to the man. He added that this man then suddenly arose and began to threaten him and that in fear of his life he had continued to walk away from the scene but that this man had suddenly chased after him and attacked him. He said that he had defended himself against this attack and that the assailant had at one point grabbed something on his waistband and had asked him if he “wanted to die.” The victim told the officers that this man had then demanded the victim’s cell phone and wallet and that given that he had been in fear for his life he had handed the items over to the man. The victim told the officers that he had walked away as this man left the scene with great haste but that about five minutes later he (the victim) had returned and discovered his identification and credit cards were scattered on the ground. The victim had used a second device with which to call the police and had also utilized an application on that device to track the whereabouts of the cell phone that had been taken so when the officers arrived at the scene the victim was able to tell them that the stolen cell phone was at that time in the area of the 1800 block of 16th Street. The officers went in search of the suspect and within a few minutes spotted the man but the man, upon seeing the officers, ran away and escaped. Shortly afterwards officers received a report that a man was involved in a verbal dispute with his grandmother in the 1700 block of 16th Street. The officers went to that location and discovered that the man was none other than the suspect in the robbery case. The officers searched this suspect and discovered the victim’s cell phone upon his person. This 18-year-old resident of Santa Monica was arrested and charged with robbery. Bail was set at $50,000.
Bicycle Repair Man.
On Wednesday, March 23, at 12:30 a.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were on a special patrol in the area of Second Street and Washington Street after there had been an increase in the incidences of residential and vehicular burglaries in the neighborhood. As the officers were patrolling they spotted a bicyclist who was riding on the wrong side of the road swerve onto the sidewalk. The officers initiated a traffic stop on this bicyclist and spoke with the man. The officers became suspicious about the intentions of this man due to his demeanor and the way that he was nervously answering their questions. The officers asked this man if they could look inside his backpack and the man said that they could look inside, so they did. The officers discovered that this man was in possession of found pliers, wire cutters, bolt cutters flat head screw driver, gloves, flashlight, checks in the name of another person and various credit cards belonging to other people. The officers asked this man why he was in possession of these items and he stuttered that he needed these tools because he was intending to do some mechanical adjustments to his bicycle. The man did not have any kind of explanation as to why he was in possession of the checks and credit cards belonging to various other individuals, however. The officers arrested this 33-year-old Los Angeles resident and he was charged with possession of blank checks with intent to defraud and possession of burglary tools. Bail was set at $20,000.
All Bets Were Off.
On Wednesday, March 23, at 4:00 p.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department, who were driving along the 2800 block of Ocean Front Walk, saw a suspicious looking man who immediately turned away from the officers when he spotted that they were looking at him. The officers had noticed that this man was in possession of a child’s scooter and after the man had turned away from the officers they saw that he suddenly threw the child’s scooter into a trashcan. The officers stopped this man and asked him why he had thrown the child’s scooter into the trashcan. The man claimed that he had found the scooter and at that moment he had decided that it was of no use to him. The officers asked this man if he could offer them some identification but he said that he was not carrying any so the officers asked the man if they could search him. The man agreed to the search and after looking inside this man’s pockets the officers discovered that he was in possession of identification cards and credit cards that obviously belonged to many other people. It was discovered by the officers that these items had in fact been reported as being stolen in Las Vegas, Nevada. The officers questioned this man and he said that he had found all these items on the ground in front of a casino. He added that he had also found a number of wallets and that he had used the money in the wallets to travel to Santa Monica in order to “hang out.” He said that he had been homeless and “hanging out” in Santa Monica for the past six weeks. This 38-year-old homeless man was arrested and charged with possession of stolen property, identity theft, theft of a credit card in addition to a probation violation. Bail was not granted.
