Use the Wipers/Defroster
Saturday, January 3 at 4:15 a.m. – Beach Parking Lot 1 North – A Harbor Service Officer (HSO, the non-sworn SMPD employees in the harbor) saw a gray SUV spinning its wheels in the lot and driving recklessly – “doing donuts” – and called police for assistance. He continued to watch the SUV from his position on the Pier as it parked in the lot next to a maroon Cadillac; the occupants of both cars got out, and they then got back in both cars in an undetermined order so the HSO could not tell who had been driving the SUV. As the responding officer drove into the lot, the Cadillac drove away with its windows completely obscured with moisture obstructing the view of the driver in violation of Vehicle Code section 26708. Police pulled the Cadillac over, and the driver, a Los Angeles man, was arrested for driving without a license. The SUV was stopped by other officers but not cited.
Knife Attack Under the Pier
Wednesday, January 7 at 7:58 a.m. – 1600 block of The Beach – A man entered the shower area under the Pier and demanded to use a shower. When the man in the shower (“Victim”) asked for five more minutes, the first man (“Suspect”) stabbed the Victim four times in the upper body with an unknown type of knife and fled on foot. The Victim, a transient, was able to identify the Suspect, also a transient, by name, and at 3:55 that afternoon police officers from the Homeless Liaison Program (HLP) located the Suspect on the second floor of the Main Library and took him into custody without incident. The Suspect was taken to jail and booked for attempted murder; the Victim was taken to a local hospital and treated for non-life-threatening wounds.
The Salt-and-Pepper Bandit
Thursday, January 8 at 11:52 a.m. – 2001 Wilshire Boulevard – Responding officers were told that a man entered the Union Bank of California, presented a demand note [not the negotiable instrument kind], moved his hand to his waistband to indicate he had a weapon, and demanded cash. The teller handed over an amount of cash, and the man fled on foot out the west door and into the alley behind the north side of the 1900 block of Wilshire.
The suspect is described as a 55-year-old black man, 6-foot or 6-foot-1, average weight, short salt-and-pepper hair, brown eyes, wearing a black shirt, blue jeans, tennis shoes, and possibly a necklace or neck chain.
The SMPD contacted the FBI, who said the same suspect was believed to be responsible for the January 5 robbery of the U.S. Bank at 3302 Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica, and that the FBI calls him “the salt-and-pepper bandit” because of his hair. They advised that he was possibly driving a blue Lincoln Town Car with Arkansas plates. and that he may be responsible for additional robberies.
