A 23-year-old Hollywood man was arrested on Saturday, July 19 after an attempted bicycle theft caught the eye of Santa Monica police and when searched, found in possession of a stolen wallet and Samsung Galaxy S5 cell phone.
Officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were on routine patrol in the area of Fifth Street and Broadway Avenue at 8:50 pm on this day when they chanced upon a man who was acting suspiciously next to an unsecured bicycle.
The man attempted to take the bicycle, but when he noticed that the officers were eyeing him he stepped away from the conveyance.
The officers suspected from this suspicious behavior that the man could be a potential bicycle thief so they decided to detain him and ask him some questions about the bicycle.
The man responded by denying any knowledge of the bicycle and even put it to the officers that the bicycle in question did not exist.
The officers asked the man if they could search him and he agreed and during the search the officers discovered a black wallet containing another person’s Social Security Card, a debit card, and a new Samsung Galaxy S5 cell phone.
The officers investigated further and found out that the Samsung Galaxy S5 cell phone belonged to a woman who lives in Van Nuys and that the wallet was the property of a Los Angeles resident.
This man was arrested and charged with possession of stolen property and misappropriation of lost property. Bail was set at $500.
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.