By Tim Broughton
Attempted Murder!
On Saturday, June 17, at 11:23 p.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department received a radio call informing them that a man had been attacked and stabbed in the 100 block of Colorado Avenue. The officers rushed to the scene and discovered a man lying on the sidewalk suffering from multiple stab wounds. Santa Monica Fire Department Paramedics treated the victim at the scene before being rushed to an area hospital for treatment. The victim is, at the time of going to press, still recovering in the hospital and is reported as being in a stable condition. The officers investigated and discovered that the victim had been attempting to exit Parking Structure Number Eight, located at 1540 Second St., when he pulled up behind the suspect vehicle, which at that time was situated at the pay station of the structure. The suspect vehicle was occupied by two males. The victim and the two males in the suspect vehicle became embroiled in a verbal altercation as they exited the parking structure and this continued as they drove southbound on Second Street. As the two vehicles reached the 100 block of Colorado Avenue the victim abruptly stopped his car in front of the suspect vehicle and exited the car. The two suspects exited their vehicle and they began to have a confrontation in the street. The confrontation turned into physical combat and during this fight one of the suspects produced a blade and stabbed the victim numerous times. The suspects then returned to their car and drove away. A short time later Santa Monica Police Department received a call from UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica informing them that two men were at that location and that they could have possibly been involved in the incident. The officers hastened to the hospital where they arrested the two suspects and also discovered their vehicle parked in the emergency room parking area. The two men, one aged 30 and from Glendale and the other also aged 30 and from Burbank were alter charged with attempted murder with bail for each being set at $1 million.
Shady Character.
On Friday, June 9, at 2:30 p.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were called out to the Sunglasses Hut (a chain purveyor of sunglasses), located at 1334 Third Street Promenade in order to investigate a report of a man stealing sunglasses. When the officers arrived at the location they were met by the store manager who had detained the suspect outside the business. The officers spoke with the store manager who told them that the suspect had entered the store and proceeded to pick up a pair of sunglasses which he placed in his pant pocket. The suspect then left the store without making any attempt to pay for said sunglasses. The store manager was desirous of a prosecution so the officers arrested the suspected offender, a man aged 24 and a resident of Los Angeles, and he was later charged with stealing the sunglasses. This man was released from police custody after being issued a citation.
Beer And Cigarette.
On Monday, June 12, at 2:42 p.m. an officer of the Santa Monica Police Department was flagged down by an employee of the 7-11 Store located at 630 Wilshire Blvd. The employee told the officer that a man had helped himself to a can of an unspecified brand of beer and had taken it outside the store in order to drink the beer whilst enjoying a cigarette. The officer approached the alleged beer thief and asked him to produce some identification, but the suspect walked away and then became combative with the officer. The officer asked the suspect to stop but he would not so the officer attempted to detain the man but the man began to fight and a struggle ensued. Additional officers arrived at the scene but the suspect continued to resist and also punched several of the officers. The officers eventually overpowered this 19-year-old resident of Lakeview Terrace and he was arrested and charged with resisting an officer with violence and smoking within 20 feet of a publicly accessed doorway (a violation of Santa Monica Municipal Code 4.44.020(a)(8). Bail was set at $20,000.
Trunk Call.
On Thursday, June 15, at 3:25 a.m. an officer of the Santa Monica Police Department was on patrol in the 900 block of Fourth Street when he observed a man standing near to an open trunk of a parked vehicle. The officer approached the man and as he was doing so he saw the man close the trunk and begin to walk away from the location. The officers’ training suggested to him that this man was possibly up to no good so he looked closely as the man walked away. The officer then noticed that the man had left a black duffle bag on the ground next to the trunk of the vehicle. The officer stopped his vehicle, exited and detained the man in order to ask some questions. The man admitted to the officer that the vehicle in question did not belong to him so the officer located the rightful owner of the car. The rightful owner of the car told the officer that the black duffle bag that had been left on the ground had in fact been situated on the back seat of the vehicle and that numerous coins that had been in the center console had been removed. The officer had enough evidence to arrest the man on suspicion of tampering with a vehicle and theft. In addition, the suspect was in violation of a probation order. Bail for the suspect, aged 42 and from Los Angeles was set at $90,000.
