Assault on a Child - Suspect in Custody
March 13, 2024 5:04 PM
March 14, 2024 Update - The suspect involved in the March 10th assault on a minor in Santa Monica has been arrested by LAPD after another incident in Venice and is currently in their custody. SMPD detectives are working with LAPD to present our consolidated cases to the LA County District Attorney, aiming for a swift filing of felony child abuse charges.
Original Release:
Santa Monica, CA –We have received several media requests related to an incident that occurred at about 7pm on Sunday, March 10th, in Santa Monica. A male (not confirmed as homeless) was sitting on a bus bench at Main Street and Marine Avenue acting erratically. A 6-year-old child and her parents were walking northbound on Main Street behind the bench when the suspect spun around and struck the child causing her to fall to the ground. Thankfully, the child was not seriously injured. The suspect, described as a male, Black, approx. 6-01, 30-35 years old, wearing a black jacket and blue jeans, fled the location northbound on Main Street and out of sight. He was not apprehended.
“An incident like this one is an affront to public safety and will not be tolerated. Even more so that a child was involved. Any crime committed in Santa Monica is a crime too many; our department stands strong in the face of anyone who chooses to victimize those who are in this city. Our detectives are working hard to uncover more details of the incident and identify and apprehend the suspect.
We appreciate our partnership with our community, relying on our residents, business owners and visitors to provide us with information about criminal behavior. We continue our specialized uniformed deployments on Main Street and in our Downtown area. Our goal is to be proactive and present, providing safety and security to our residents and visitors.
In addition, we are deploying our Homeless Liaison Program Team of police officers and a mental health clinician to provide much needed resources to those experiencing homelessness. Our efforts, combined with the Therapeutic Transport Team and the Salvation Army, provide us a platform to redouble our efforts to connect individuals with treatment and shelter.” -Chief Rámon Batista
We encourage anyone with information related to this individual or incident to contact Detective Diaz and Daniel.Diaz@santamonica.gov, Detective Sergeant Goodwin at Chad.Goodwin@santamonica.gov, or the Watch Commander (24 hours) at 310-458-8427.
Media Contact
Erika Aklufi
Lieutenant
Erika.Aklufi@santamonica.gov