Bail was set at $50,000 on Thursday, Aug. 22 for a Los Angeles man who Santa Monica police officers caught immediately after he had broken into a residence and stolen a $250 guitar.
At 1:20 am officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were called out to the 400 block of 21st Street in response to a report of a residential burglary.
The officers arrived at the scene and proceeded to conduct an interior check of the residence in order to ensure that there were not any suspects still inside at that time.
After satisfying themselves that the coast was clear the officers spoke with the victim and she told them that she had heard a man walking up the stairs and then saw the man walking down the stairs, at which time she yelled out to her roommate for assistance as she was obviously scared.
The victim added that she was not sure how this man had left the building but that the only thing that appeared to be missing was a guitar.
As the officers were taking the statement from this victim another responding unit informed them that they had detained a man nearby who could be a suspect because he was in possession of a guitar, as well, incidentally, a screwdriver and a flashlight.
The officers brought the guitar back to the victim’s residence whereupon she identified it as her property.
This 56-year-old man, a resident of Los Angeles, was eventually arrested and charged with residential burglary and possession of burglary tools.
Bail was set at $50,000.
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.
