In a brazen afternoon robbery, a thief nabbed a cell phone from the center console of an occupied car that had stopped briefly in an alley near Wilshire Boulevard and Second Street.
"The suspect opened the car door, pulled the phone from the center console and walked away," said Santa Monica Police Sgt. Richard Lewis.
The driver had stopped the car in the alley and told his two passengers to wait for him, Lewis said. When the he returned, he found the cell phone was gone but his passengers were able to point him to the suspect.
"The victim found the guy in the alley and confronted him," Lewis said. "The suspect opened up his bag and showed him a gun."
The gun turned out to be a replica, Lewis said.
The incident was at 2:10 p.m. Aug. 23 in the 1100 block of 2nd Court.
When police arrived, they arrested the suspect, identified as Los Angeles resident Alonzo Gifford, 45. He was booked into the Santa Monica Jail on suspicion of robbery, receiving stolen property, possession of a controlled substance and possession of burglary tools.
Gifford is being held in lieu of $20,000 bail, according to online jail records.
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