SANTA MONICA—On January 3, a Santa Monica Police Department patrol unit arrested a suspected bicycle thief in the act.
According to reports, at around 12:20 p.m., Santa Monica Police Department officers noticed a man acting suspiciously in the Broadway area of Downtown Santa Monica.
The suspect was allegedly in the midst of an attempt to break a bicycle cable lock, which secured a bicycle to a metal pole.
A police report noted that the officers applied an intense LED spotlight on the suspected bicycle thief in order to observe his activity. The officers reported that the illuminated suspect was seen holding a pair of wire cutters in his right hand.
The suspect was asked to step away from the bicycle as the officers proceeded to question him. The suspect told the officers he had been dining at the restaurant located near the locked bicycle and that he had forgotten the combination to his lock.
When the officers examined the lock, though, they noticed it was not a combination lock, rather it was key lock.
According to police reports, the suspect lacked receipts from the restaurant in which he had claimed to have eaten.
When asked about where the bicycle was purchased from, the suspect alleged he bought it new from a shop in Culver City two months prior. Reportedly, he was not able to name the shop from where he claimed to have purchased it.
The report also notes that the suspect didn’t know the brand of bicycle either.
With sufficient probable cause, the Santa Monica Police Department officers arrested the suspect, a 51-year-old Los Angeles resident, for attempted theft of the bicycle (Penal Code 211 PC) and possession of burglary tools (Penal Code 466 PC).
Bail was set at $1,000.