Burglar Bagged.
On Wednesday, August 31, at 10:51 a.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were called out to attend to a report of a suspicious person. The reporting party had stated that they had recently been the victim of a burglary and that they feared that the possible intruder had returned to the location in order violate them once again. The residence in question was located in the 2600 block of 34th Street and when the officers arrived in the area they were soon able to spot a man who accurately fit the description of the suspect. This man was loitering at the intersection of 34th Street and Ocean Park Boulevard. The officers approached the suspicious individual and began to ask some probing questions. The officers discovered that that this man did in fact have a warrant out for his arrest in connection with some previous burglary charges. They also found that the man was in violation of parole and that a separate warrant had been issued regarding that offense. The officers arrested this man for the warrants and during the required and routine search of the suspect the officers discovered that this man was in possession of a small plastic bag containing a white powder. The officers were skeptical that this substance was baking soda or some other innocent substance and their suspicions were proven to be warranted when the substance was tested and turned out to be methamphetamine. This 40-year-old homeless man was charged with the burglary warrant, possession of methamphetamine, and a violation of parole. Bail was not granted.
Perfectly Strange.
On Thursday, September 1, at 12:24 a.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department received a radio call informing them that a citizen had reported seeing a man behaving strangely in the 600 block of Ocean Avenue. Although it may be the case that people regularly “behave strangely” in Santa Monica as a whole, on this occasion the caller had informed dispatch that this man was yelling and throwing a variety of items at a building so the officers hastened to the location in order to investigate. The officers arrived in the area of the 600 block of Ocean Avenue and spotted the suspect in the 100 block of Idaho Avenue whereupon they apprehended this man and began to ask the man some questions. The officers learned the identity of this individual and also discovered that he was on probation for theft. The officers conducted a consensual search of the man and found that he was in possession of an identification card as well as a credit card and that both of these items belonged to another person. The officers arrested this 22-year-old man from Montebello and he was later cited for appropriation of lost property. Due to this man being on probation bail was not granted.
A Suitcase Case.
On Thursday, September 1, at 8:50 a.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department responded to a report of a fight between a man and a woman in progress in the area of Chelsea Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard. The officers rushed to the location and spotted the pair at the intersection. The officers separated the pair and investigated. During the course of the investigation the officers learned that earlier that morning there had been a traffic accident at the location and that the victim had been walking along the 2400 block of Wilshire Boulevard and had hurried over to the scene of the traffic accident in order to offer assistance. The officers discovered that the victim had left a suitcase containing some personal belongings on the sidewalk as he ran over to the traffic accident and that when he turned to return to the sidewalk and retrieve the suitcase after rendering help he saw that a woman was walking away with his suitcase. The victim told the officers that he had confronted the woman who had taken his suitcase and that when he did this the woman began to strike him in the face and body multiple times. The victim added that at that time he had basked away from the assault and had called the police. The officers arrested the suspect, a homeless woman, who, due to the fact that she would not give the officers any details about herself was listed as a “Jane Doe” in her forties. This woman was charged with robbery with bail being set at $50,000.
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.
