Crime Watch is a weekly series culled from reports provided by the Santa Monica Police Department. These are arrests only. All parties are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Sunday, Feb. 16, at 8:40 a.m.,
Santa Monica Police officers responded to a possible stabbing at a home on the 1900 block of Delaware Avenue. When police arrived they found a woman bleeding from both forearms. She told officers that she works as a caretaker at the home and that the person she looks after cut her. She has been his caretaker for about two years. She told officers that the man had a history of making sexual advances toward her. One this particular day he asked to see her breasts. Naturally, she said no. The man was seated with a kitchen knife in his hand and became enraged at the rejection. He stood up and allegedly lunged at her with the knife. She suffered three to four cuts on her forearms. The man then left the kitchen and went to his room. The caretaker told police that she was so mad that she went into the room, picked up his computer printer and threw it into a window, breaking it. She then called police. Officers arrested the elderly man for assault with a deadly weapon. He was identified as James Andrew Meyer, 66, of Santa Monica. His bail was set at $30,000.
Saturday, Feb. 15, at 10:20 p.m.,
Officers responded to a report of someone loitering in an alley east of the 1100 block of 12th Street. When cops arrived they were approached by a person who said someone was yelling and appeared to be under the influence of some drug. Officers located that person in a nearby parking lot. He was definitely drunk and possibly under the influence of a stimulant, police said. One officer searched the man's belongings and allegedly found meth. The suspect was placed under arrest for drug possession. He was identified as Joe Richard Barron, 64, of Santa Fe Springs, Calif. His bail was set at $10,000.
Friday, Feb. 14, at 2 p.m.,
Officers were conducting business outside the city limits along the 4300 block of Lincoln Boulevard in Marina del Rey when they saw a driver texting who also had a broken windshield. They pulled the guy over to issue him a ticket and found that the license plates on the car were stolen. Furthermore, the car belonged to Enterprise Rent-a-Car and the local branch manager was about to report that stolen as well because it had not been returned. Officers noted that the passenger had needle marks on her arm, indicating that she was a drug user. They searched the car and found syringes and some heroin. Police took the driver into custody for drug possession and the stolen car. He was identified as Scott Alfred Dickinson, 44, of Marina del Rey. His bail was set at $45,000. The passenger, Holly Joelle Lamere, 24, of Santa Monica, was booked for possession of the syringe. Her bail was set at $250.
Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013
An investigator for One West Bank filed a police report in which he alleged someone had stolen $49,000 from a cash drawer during a move from one bank branch to another. The money was found missing during an audit. The investigator believed that a former employee was responsible. On the first day the new branch opened, that employee abruptly quit. He allegedly told his managers that he took the money over the course of several days and spent it on food, clothes, credit card debt and gambling. He said he would pay it back, but he apparently did not. Detectives found out where the suspect lived and with a warrant placed him under arrest some time last week for embezzlement. He was identified as Ryan Joseph Dizon, 33, of Los Angeles. His bail was set at $20,000.
Thursday, Feb. 13, at 12:30 p.m.,
An officer assigned to Downtown saw a man jaywalking and stopped him to talk about the violation. He seemed to be acting as if he was under the influence of drugs, the officer said, so he questioned him further. The officer said the man said he used to do drugs, but that he completed a rehabilitation program and was clean. The officers asked if he could search the man. He agreed to be searched. The officer searched him and his bag and found meth and a pipe used to smoke the drug, according to the police report. The man was placed under arrest for possession and jaywalking. He was identified as Habib Mohamed Drine, 58, of Venice, Calif. His bail was set at $11,500.
Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 2:30 a.m.,
Officers responded to an apartment complex located on the 1800 block of Euclid Avenue regarding a burglary. The person who called the police department said she saw someone climb into an apartment window. Officers at the scene found a man inside the apartment. No one else was home. A neighbor said the person who lived there was out of town. The suspect told police that he was only there to get some of his stuff, but he could not prove he lived there. The neighbor said she saw the suspect enter through the window with a hammer in his hand. Officers found a hammer inside the apartment. They arrested the suspect for burglary. He was identified as John Charles Spampinato, 42, a transient. His bail was set at $50,000.
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