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| SUSPECT ARRESTED IN THEFT OF NEWSPAPERS
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| April 8, 2004
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| DR# 04-28436
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| During the first week of April 2004, Santa Monica Police Department received information regarding the theft of newspapers that was occurring in the City of Santa Monica.
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| On April 8, 2004, Detectives from the Office of Special Enforcement conducted a surveillance at various locations throughout the downtown area in an attempt to identify and arrest the suspect who had repeatedly stolen newspapers.
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| At 5:50 a.m., on Thursday morning, the surveillance team saw a suspect remove two armloads of Santa Monica Mirror newspapers from the news rack located in front of the Santa Monica Courthouse. The surveillance team followed the suspect and watched him commit a total of six consecutive thefts of newspapers from news racks in the downtown area.
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| Detectives initiated a stop traffic stop at 7th and Montana and took the suspect into custody for the observed thefts. The suspect was identified as Miguel Martinez, M/L, 37 of Los Angeles. When Martinez was arrested, he was in possession of 400 copies of the Santa Monica Mirror, 213 copies of the Daily News, 160 copies of the Santa Monica Daily Press, 26 copies of the City Beat, 16 copies the Daily Bruin, and 11 copies of La Opinion. When Martinez was arrested he had 192 slugs in his possession. The term slug refers to a fake coin used to open vending type machines. The suspect’s vehicle was a late model, Black truck that was impounded.
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| Martinez was transported to the jail and booked for petty theft and possession of slugs. Bail has been set at $1,000.
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| Anyone with any additional information regarding this incident or prior incidents is encouraged to call the Santa Monica Police Department at 310.458.8491.
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For more information, please contact:
Lieutenant Frank Fabrega
(310) 458-8418 |
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