Multi-agency police response leads to rapid arrest and $2 million bail.
The Santa Monica Police Department has announced additional information regarding the arrest in the Santa Monica Pico Boulevard murder on July 25.
Taylor Roger Free, 35, a resident of San Luis Obispo, was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department near Crenshaw Boulevard and Exposition Boulevard in the West Adams district of Los Angeles.
On July 25, at 5:21 p.m., SMPD officers responded to a call reporting a woman who had been attacked and needed medical assistance on Pico Boulevard. After the officers arrived, they found a woman with serious injuries, and Santa Monica Fire Department paramedics rendered aid but were unable to save the woman.
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. The victim has not officially been identified by the Santa Monica Police Department.
SMPD detectives and forensics personnel investigated the scene and shared information from witnesses with the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department about a potential suspect.
Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department located the suspect, Taylor Roger Free, after an alert from the SMPD was sent out. He was arrested without incident and brought to the Santa Monica Police Department’s jail.
No other information about the crime and how the man came to be in Santa Monica has been released.
Free remains in custody with a $2 million bond and has been charged with one count of murder, 187(a) PC, by the Los Angeles County District Attorney. The investigation remains active, and the Santa Monica Police Department asks that anyone with information on the crime contact them at 310-458-8491.
