A 41-year-old homeless man was arrested on Saturday, Nov. 30 after snatching a purse from a woman and taking all of the contents.
Officers of the Santa Monica Police Department went to the area of Seventh Street and Wilshire Boulevard at 6 pm on this day in order to investigate a case of a snatched purse.
When they arrived they spoke with the female victim who told them she had been walking southbound from the alley when a man approached her and asked if he could possibly have a cigarette.
The woman said she was searching in her purse for a cigarette when all of a sudden the man grabbed the purse, ripped it from her shoulder, and proceeded to walk away.
The woman continued to tell the officers that she watched as this man walked away while rummaging through the purse putting various items in his pocket.
The woman then said that she chased after this man and demanded that he return her belongings, but the man raised his fist in a threatening manner so she halted in fear for her safety.
The man then handed the purse back to the woman, sans the items that he had taken. Other responding officers found a man who fit the description of the suspect in the 1300 block of 14th Street.
When they approached him he spontaneously told them that he did not have the woman’s purse (this of course was something of a self-incriminating statement).
The woman was transported to the area whereupon she positively identified this homeless man.
He was then arrested and charged with robbery. 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.
