Santa Monica police arrested a 21-year-old homeless man on Saturday, July 12 after being caught riding a bicycle stolen from a Santa Monica Pier rental business.
Officers of the Santa Monica Police Department were working the Third Street Promenade area at 9:24 pm on this day when they happened upon a man who was riding his bicycle in violation of a Municipal Code that prohibits such activity in that area.
The officers commanded the bicyclist to dismount his conveyance and walk with it until he reached an area that allowed the riding of bicycles.
The man ignored the officers and began to ride his bicycle away from them.
The officers chased after this man and as they did so the man attempted to punch one of the officers.
A brief struggle ensued in which the officers prevailed and this homeless man was arrested.
The officers then discovered that the bicycle had been purloined from a bicycle rental business located on the Santa Monica Pier, so this suspect was not only charged with illegally riding a bicycle, assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest, but also with receiving stolen property.
Bail was set at $20,000.
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.
