A 50-year-old homeless man was arrested Thursday, Aug. 29 near the Third Street Promenade for trying to sell a stolen bicycle worth more than $450 for $91.
At 4:24 pm officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were called out to the 1200 block of Third Street Promenade after they had received a report of a homeless looking person who was attempting to sell an expensive looking mountain bike to passersby on the promenade.
This man was apparently attempting to sell the bicycle for exactly $91 when it was supposedly worth over $450.
Upon the arrival of the officers the suspect had ridden the bicycle away towards Wilshire Boulevard, where an officer eventually discovered him.
The responding officer questioned this man and he was less than truthful about his name, or anything else it seemed.
The alias that this man gave the officer was cross-referenced via the police computer and his real identity was discovered.
This man was arrested and charged with receiving stolen property, violation of probation, and riding a bicycle in a restricted zone.
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.