A Porsche In Grand Theft Auto.
On Sunday, January 20, at 8:15am an officer of the Santa Monica Police Department responded to the 2600 block of Santa Monica Boulevard in order to investigate a report of grand theft auto. When the officer arrived at the location he spoke with an employee of the auto-body business who told him what had happened. The employee stated that he had seen a man wearing a hoodie sitting in the drivers’ seat of a Porsche sports car that had been parked in the rear alley behind the business. He said that he had earlier left the vehicle unlocked with the keys placed on the floor of the vehicle after it had been delivered from another auto-body shop for routine maintenance. He added that he assumed that the man in the hoodie had been another employee of the other auto-body shop. After he had noticed that the vehicle had vanished he contacted the other auto-body shop and the owner told him that he did not have an employee that fit the description of the man that had been seen sitting in the car earlier. It was at that moment that the employee realized that the Porsche had been stolen. About an hour later officers of the Santa Monica College Police discovered the Porsche parked in the area of 22nd Street and Delaware Avenue. The officers spoke with a witness at the scene and as they were doing so they noticed a man fitting the description of the suspected thief walking down the street. The officers called the man over but he refused and entered the rear of a residence in the area. This residence was later identified as belonging to the mother of the suspect. The officers followed the man and as an officer approached the rear entrance of the residence the suspect came outside and was immediately detained. The officers then discovered the keys to the Porsche just a few feet away from where this man had been standing. This 34-year-old Santa Monica resident was arrested and charged with grand theft auto and resisting arrest. Bail was set at $25,000.
Face The Music.
On Thursday, January 25, at 2:45pm officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were called out to investigate a report of assault that had occurred at a Step Up (an organization that assists people suffering with mental disorders) facility located at 1619 Santa Monica Boulevard. When the officers arrived at the scene the alleged perpetrators had already left the area however they were able to speak with the victim who told them that he had been in the lobby of the facility listening to some music when a woman who was also present in the lobby began to complain about the music. He said that he had declined her request to lower the volume of the music and that as a result the woman had become abusive and had hurled numerous insults towards him. He added that the woman’s boyfriend (who was also present in the lobby) had risen from his chair and had suddenly punched him in the face. The victim continued to add that the woman had grabbed a metal-fold chair and struck him in the face with the chair. He told the officers that he had fallen to the ground and that the man and the woman had then begun to kick him in his head and face repeatedly and that the woman had struck him several more times with the metal-fold chair. On Saturday, January 27 one of the officers who had attended the aforementioned incident was called out to another Step Up facility, located in the 3400 block of Ocean Park in order to assist staff at that location deal with a woman who had been placed on a psychiatric hold. When the officer arrived at the Ocean Park location he immediately realized that this woman was the suspect in the previous assault case, and also saw that her boyfriend (the second suspect) was also present with her. The officer arrested both of these individuals and they were transported to jail. The woman, aged 23, and a resident of Santa Monica was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and had bail set at $60,000 while her boyfriend, aged 19 and also of Santa Monica, was charged with assault and his bail was set at $30,000.
Pants Down Stairs.
On Thursday, January 25, at 10:45pm officers of the Santa Monica Police Department received a report that a woman had been exercising on the extensive flight of stairs known locally as the Montana Avenue Stairs when a man had appeared in front of her and suddenly dropped his pants. The officers were told that the man had not only exposed his genitals to the woman but had started to manipulate them in a sexual manner. The officers were informed that the woman had told this man to stop his behavior and had told the man that she was going to call the police. The woman had then used her cell phone to take pictures of this man as he masturbated and that the man had lunged toward the woman in an apparent attempt to knock the phone from her hands. This man also utilized an orange hat that he was wearing as a way to attempt to hide his face (?) as the woman took photographs of him. The officers were also told that the suspect had run away after the incident. When the officers arrived at the scene the reporting party (victim) was already gone but she had told a landscaper about the incident and had pointed the suspect out to the landscaper who in turn pointed this man out to the police. The officers approached the suspect and asked him about the incident to which he claimed that he had indeed had a confrontation with a woman earlier that day, but said that he had only been scratching his belly under his shirt and that the victim must have been mistaken. The officers detained this man while they went and collected the victim from her residence. The officers returned with the victim who then positively identified this man as the man that she had seen attempting to gratify himself before her eyes. This 22-year-old Los Angeles resident was charged with a plethora of offences that included publicly displaying his genitals, assault, parole violation, and illegal possession of a controlled substance. Bail was set at $500.
A Smashing Time.
On Saturday, January 27, at 12:10am officers of the Santa Monica Police Department who were on patrol in the 200 block of Broadway Avenue spotted a man standing in the doorway of a business. The officers noticed that this man was hurling glass and steel frames into a pile on the sidewalk as well as yelling incoherently. The officers approached this individual and asked him why he was performing this act and he told the officers that he needed to sleep in the stairwell of the building and that these items were in his way. The officers helped this man clamber over the pile of debris and as they did so they noticed that his hands were bleeding. The officers also noticed that this man reeked of alcohol and that he displayed numerous signs of intoxication. Security guards who were on duty in the area then approached the officers and they told the officers that this subject had earlier damaged a heat lamp and smashed glass sheets at the location. The officers arrested this 20-year-old resident of Los Angeles and he was later charged with felony vandalism. Bail was set at $20,000.
