Santa Monica police arrested a 51-year-old beach thief on Friday, June 20 and were able to return stolen items from three different theft victims.
Officers of the Santa Monica Police Department who were engaged in working the beach detail received a call at 7:35 pm on this day advising them that lifeguards had detained a theft suspect in the 1700 block of the beach.
Upon arrival the officers discovered that a beachgoer had seen a woman take his camera and cellphone from his towel and had called out to the lifeguards for assistance.
The lifeguards had then detained the woman and placed her into handcuffs while they awaited the arrival of the police.
As the officers were taking statements, a second victim arrived and said that a small Nike drawstring bag had been purloined from his possessions on the beach, and that this bag contained his iPhone and cash.
The officers searched the suspect and discovered those items contained in the suspect’s bag also.
The officers also discovered several additional suspect items that included a Tiffany bracelet, women’s sunglasses, a white iPhone, and a Samsung phone with a Speck brand case.
This woman was arrested and taken to Santa Monica jail.
As she was being booked in, a third victim arrived at the police station and positively identified the aforementioned items as being stolen from the beach as well.
This Los Angeles resident was charged with theft and bail was set at $20,000.
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.
