A leading Santa Monica architect was slashed on the Metro E (Expo) Line Tuesday night.
Former Planning Commission Chair Gwynne Pugh said he was slashed in the knee while riding the E Line back to Santa Monica from downtown Los Angeles at about 8:30 p.m.
Pugh said two men and two women, who appeared to be couples, boarded the train at Palms Station with a shopping cart and started arguing loudly as the cart drifted around the train car.
“Another passenger tried to talk to them about (the shopping cart), and they got into an altercation that devolved into a melee with that passenger pinned to the ground by two men and other passengers trying to hold them back,” he said.
Pugh said the woman walked down the train car carrying a knife and he stood up in the aisle to try to prevent her from reaching the fight. He said she began brandishing the knife at him, so he kicked at her. She then slashed his knee, leaving a deep cut.
The man who was pinned to the ground suffered a broken finger, Pugh added.
By the time the train reached Bundy Station, the Los Angeles Police Department responded to the scene and arrested the four individuals involved, Pugh said. LAPD declined to provide additional information about the arrests.
Pugh said he went to the emergency room at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center to get stitches on his knee.
Pugh, the founder of Gwynne Pugh Urban Studio, helped design the Downtown Santa Monica E Line station and many nearby housing projects, including affordable and supportive housing such as Step Up on Fifth and Colorado Court. While chair of the Planning Commission, he helped develop Santa Monica’s land use, urban design and transportation plan, the Land Use and Circulation Element.
Last August, five Culver City High School students were assaulted by another group of teenagers on the E Line as they got off the train at Culver City Station. One student broke his jaw and another broke her nose in the attack.
madeleine@smdp.com
