A homeless man who stole a truck parked in a Santa Monica Beach parking lot was arrested on Friday, Aug. 14. At 5:30 pm officers of the Santa Monica Police Department’s beach patrol were called to assist a victim who had detained the alleged thief of his truck.
When the officers arrived they saw that the victim and the suspect were standing in the 1600 block of Appian Way.
The officers spoke with the victim who told them that one week prior he had left his truck unattended and unlocked in the 1550 block of the beach parking lot and that when he had returned he discovered that it was missing.
He said that after talking to his neighbor about the incident he learned about the existence of a homeless man who would randomly wash people’s vehicles that were parked in the 1550 Beach parking lot.
The victim said that he had gone to this parking lot and found the suspect who had ultimately admitted to taking the truck.
The officers arrested this 36-year-old homeless man and he was charged with theft. Bail was set at $25,000.
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.
