He Didn’t Check Out.
On Saturday, October 26, at 10:30 a.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were called out to the area of Ocean Avenue and Colorado Avenue in order to investigate a report of a group of people who were involved in a fight and who had also been throwing various items into the street. When the officers arrived at the location they spotted several subjects who were at that time walking away from the scene and the officers noticed that one of these individuals was carrying a large stick. The officers stopped this man and asked him what he was doing and whether he had been involved in the fracas. The man told the officers that he was completely innocent. The officers asked this man if he would mind if they searched him and he told them that they could search him. The officers then searched this man and discovered that he was in possession of business checks that belonged to a business located on Broadway Avenue in Santa Monica. The officers asked this man why he was in possession of these checks and he said that a “friend” had given the checks to him but if the police wanted the checks they could have them. These checks appeared to have been issued for corporate reimbursement purposes. The officers then called the manager of the business in question and she told the officers that she had placed two of these checks into a manila envelope in the office mailbox and that she didn’t know this suspect and that subsequently the suspect had no right to be in possession of these checks. The officers then spoke again with the suspect and he told the officers that he had intended to deposit these checks into what appeared to be a fictitious person’s checking account. The officers arrested this 34-year-old homeless man and he was later charged with receiving stolen property and a violation of probation. Bail was set at $10,000.
Inconvenient Encounter
On Monday, October 26, at 7:25 p.m. a lone Santa Monica Police Officer entered the 7-11 convenience store, located at 1600 Santa Monica Blvd. in order to purchase some items for his personal use. A few moments after this man had entered the store another man walked in and as the officer and this man were both perusing the merchandise at the rear area of the store the other man intentionally bumped into the officer in an aggressive manner. The officer attempted to take this man into custody but the man became agitated and even more aggressive toward the officer. A violent struggle ensued between the officer and this individual inside the store and during the struggle the man attempted to gouge out the officers eyes with his fingers. The officers managed to request assistance via his police radio during the struggle and a second officer arrived at the scene and managed to forcefully subdue the suspect. Other officers arrived at the scene shortly afterwards and this 28-year-old resident of Santa Monica was arrested and charged with mayhem, battery on a police officer and resisting an officer by means of force or violence. Bail was set at $100,000.
Two’s A Crowd.
On Tuesday, October 29, at 7:25 p.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were requested, by Public Service Officers from the Santa Monica Police Department, to attend the public restrooms located at Tongva Park in downtown Santa Monica. When the officers arrived at the location they spoke with the Public Service Officers who told them that they had been on patrol in the park and had heard a man and a woman talking inside the men’s bathroom located in the park. The Public Service Officers had asked these two people to exit the bathroom but they had refused. The police officers then asked the pair to exit the bathroom and a few moments later a woman walked out and the officers detained this woman for violating the gender specific requirements of the public bathrooms according to a municipal code. The officers spoke with this woman and she told the officers that she had syringes inside her backpack. The officers then searched the backpack and discovered four empty syringes in addition to a fifth syringe that appeared to contain liquid methamphetamine. A few moments later a man exited the bathroom and the officers detained and searched this man as well. The officers discovered that this man was in possession of three empty syringes as well a credit card that belonged to a third party. The officers arrested this 26-year-old homeless man and his female friend, aged 20-years, and they were both charged with possession of narcotics and drug paraphernalia while the male suspect was also charged with possession of lost property. Bail for the male suspect was granted in the amount of $500 while the female suspect received bail in the amount of $2,000.
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.
