Santa Monica’s police chief Thursday sought the public’s help to find a man who attacked a 6-year-old girl who was walking with her parents in the city over the weekend.
The crime occurred about 7 p.m. Sunday at Main Street and Marine Avenue, according to the Santa Monica Police Department.
The man, whom police said was “not confirmed as homeless,” was sitting on a bus bench at the location and allegedly “acting erratically.”
“A 6-year-old child and her parents were walking northbound on Main Street behind the bench when the suspect spun around and struck the child, causing her to fall to the ground,” police said in a statement. “Thankfully, the child was not seriously injured.”
The suspect was described as Black, about 6 feet, 1 inch tall, 30-35 years old, and was wearing a black jacket and blue jeans. He fled northbound on Main Street, and was being sought.
“An incident like this one is an affront to public safety and will not be tolerated — even more so that a child was involved,” Batista said. “Any crime committed in Santa Monica is a crime too many. Our department stands strong in the face of anyone who chooses to victimize those who are in this city. Our detectives are working hard to uncover more details of the incident and identify and apprehend the suspect.
“We appreciate our partnership with our community, relying on our residents, business owners and visitors to provide us with information about any criminal behavior,” Batista said. “We continue our specialized uniformed deployments on Main Street and in our downtown area. Our goal is to be proactive and present, providing safety and security to our residents and visitors.”
Batista said the police department has deployed its Homeless Liaison Program Team of officers and a mental health clinician “to provide much-needed resources to those experiencing homelessness.”
“Our efforts, combined with the Therapeutic Transport Team and the Salvation Army, provide us a platform to redouble our efforts to connect individuals with treatment and shelter,” Batista said.
According to KTLA 5, the girl’s family was visiting California from the East Coast when the man, described on the station as homeless, attacked the girl after the visitors walked out of an ice cream shop.
“It was awful,” said Christina Tullock, a friend of the girl’s family who had been showing them around town. “I was afraid he was going to hit her again. I was afraid that my friend was going to get hurt protecting his kid. I picked her up and we ran as far away as we could get quickly.”
Anyone with information on the case was urged to call contact Detective Diaz at Daniel.Diaz@santamonica.gov, Detective Sergeant Goodwin at Chad.Goodwin@santamonica.gov, or call the 24-hour watch commander line at 310-458-8427.