Crime & Safety
Suspect in Custody After Ocean Park Chase
Police pursue man suspected of stealing a Jeep.
A man suspected of stealing a Jeep led police on a chase early Saturday morning through the Ocean Park neighborhood and onto the beach.
The shirtless thief was arrested near 125 Pacific sometime after the pursuit got underway at 1 a.m. His name was not immediately available, said Santa Monica Police Sgt. Richard Lewis.
About 1 a.m. officers patrolling the 2300-2400 blocks of Ocean came upon a parked, stolen Jeep. A man was in the driver's seat, but he ran out of the car and onto the beach, Lewis said.
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"We conducted a search and did not locate him," he said. "Twenty minutes later, we got calls of a shirtless male running on...property [at] Ocean and Pacific."
Lewis said officers erected a perimeter and were able to take the man into custody when he tried to run across 125 Pacific and onto Neilson.
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The Jeep was recovered, he said.
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