Santa Monica police arrested three people on Thursday, Oct. 31 after being caught stealing a number of bicycles from outside an apartment building.
Officers of the Santa Monica Police Department went to the 800 block of Fourth Street at 12:47 am on this day in order to investigate a report of a bicycle theft in progress.
The reporting party had said that someone was cutting bicycle locks outside the apartment building in which they (the reporting party) resided.
This witness was also able to give dispatch a description of the alleged thieves’ vehicle.
When officers arrived they were able to quickly discover the vehicle and detain the occupants.
The officers then contacted the witness and asked him what he had seen.
He was able to give a detailed account of the suspicious behavior of the suspects as he had witnessed it.
The officers noted that not only were the suspects in possession of some bicycles, but that there was a burglary tool lying on the ground right next to their vehicle.
The officers asked what the suspects were doing with the bicycles and they claimed that they had simply been enjoying a ride along the beach.
Given that it was almost one o’clock in the morning the officers doubted the sincerity of their claim so they searched the suspect’s vehicle and discovered drug paraphernalia as well as methamphetamine.
The officers arrested a 22-year-old resident of Venice, a 26-year-old resident of Venice, and a 29-year-old resident of Inglewood for possession of stolen property.
Bail was set at $20,000 each.
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.
