By Tim Broughton – Mirror Contributor
An Empty Plate.
On Wednesday, November 30, at 2:30 p.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were driving along the 1500 block of Ocean Avenue when they were flagged down by a rather agitated man. The officers stopped their vehicle, exited and asked this man what the problem was. The man told the officers that he had been in the Blue Plate Taco restaurant and that an employee from the eatery had assaulted him for no apparent reason. The officers went inside the Blue Plate Taco Restaurant and investigated. The officers discovered that contrary to the agitated man’s claims he had not been the victim but had instantly become the suspect as the officers learned that this man had entered the restaurant and had threatened to “knock out” a female employee and then stab a male employee. Based upon their investigation the officers attempted to arrest this man but he was uncooperative. The officers eventually overpowered this 60-year-old homeless man and he was taken to jail and later charged with making criminal threats. Bail was set at $50,000.
Sham Pain.
On Wednesday, November 30, at 2:30 p.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were on routine foot patrol in the area of Seventh Street and Colorado Avenue when a young man sprinted past them wearing a backpack and carrying a bottle of Champagne with the security tags still attached to the top of the bottle. The officers chased after this man and eventually caught hold of him. The officers told this man that they just wanted to chat with him about the bottle of Champagne and the man apologized for continuing to run. This man then told the officers that they were welcome to search his backpack if they felt like doing so. The officers did indeed feel like doing so and discovered that the backpack contained five more bottles of Champagne, all with the security tags still attached. The labels on these bottles of Champagne indicated that they had originated from a nearby Von’s market so the officers contacted a Von’s Market employee who then met with them to discuss the suspect, the bottles and the security tags. The Von’s Market employee met with the officers and confirmed that the bottles of Champagne did indeed come from the Von’s Market and had a total value of $617. The Von’s Market employee was not able to positively identify the suspect or confirm that the suspect had been inside the Von’s Market. The officers were thus left with the option of arresting this 19-year-old Los Angeles resident and charging him with possession of stolen property. The officers exercised this option and this man was booked and granted bail of $1,000.
Cocktail Hour?
On Wednesday, November 30, at 8:45 a.m. a woman parked her car in Parking Lot Number Seven, located at 930 Pacific Coast Hwy. After a few minutes a man approached this woman and asked her if she knew of any bars that were open in the area (early start?). The woman said that she was not familiar with any bars that were open at that time of day. This man then asked the woman if he could “spend the day with her.” The woman declined the invitation and then requested that the man leave and stop asking her questions. The man then walked a few paces towards the other side of the parking lot, stopped, turned, faced the woman and then dropped his pants and began to perform a lewd act upon himself while staring directly into the woman’s eyes. The woman, aghast at this sight, immediately called 9-1-1 and as she was doing so the man began to walk southbound along the bicycle path. Officers of the Santa Monica Police Department arrived a few minutes later and detained this suspect. The suspect gave officers a false name and denied that he was in possession of any form of identification so the officers took him into custody while they pursued their inquiries. The officers searched this suspect and discovered that he was indeed in possession of a Texas driver’s license that revealed his true identity. This 26-year-old resident of Houston, Texas was later charged with indecent exposure and providing false information to the police. Bail was set at $10,000.
Scents Of Relief.
On Thursday, December 1, at 10:30 a.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were called out to The Children’s Place Pre-School, located at 235 Hill St. in order to investigate a strange person who was trespassing on the premises. The officers learned that the female suspect had followed a parent onto the property without permission and in addition to being naked from the waist down this woman had positioned herself upon a cloth covered chair inside the school and had urinated while she was sitting on the chair. When the officers arrived at the location they detained the suspect. The suspect told the officers that she was “just stopping by” and that someone had allowed her to enter the pre-school. The officers saw the dampness and smelled the odor of fresh urine on the cloth covered chair and after speaking with the school director (who stated that the suspect had been asked several times to leave the school) arrested this 68-year-old homeless woman and she was later charged with indecent exposure, trespass, and vandalism (urinating on the chair). Bail was set in the amount of $5,000.