Kidnapping on Main Street Foiled

By Anne La Jeunesse

Santa Monica police are warning residents and visitors about an attempted kidnapping reported Dec. 23, about seven weeks after a similar event that investigators believe is not related.

An 18-year-old Santa Monica woman called police about 9:10 p.m. on December 23, saying that as she walked along the Main Street sidewalk near Hill Street, a car drove past her, and a man got out, grabbed her and tried to force her into the car, telling her he wanted her to perform a sex act with him and his friends, according to Lt. Gary F. Gallinot, department spokesman.

"She fought the suspect and ran away, the suspect then got in his vehicle, which contained four other males, and drove away," Gallinot said. The men fled northbound on Main Street, according to Gallinot.

The woman escaped by kneeing the man and running away, Gallinot said.

The suspect who allegedly grabbed the young woman is described as Hispanic, about 25 years of age, about 6 feet tall with a shaved head and wearing a mustache. The woman reported that her attacker was wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans, Gallinot said.

The man was driving a metallic silver-colored older model Ford Taurus with Texas license plates, but the woman was unable to get the plate number, Gallinot said.

A similar incident was reported about 11:30 a.m. on November 5, when a 21-year-old woman told police that she was attacked while riding her bicycle westbound on the north sidewalk of Broadway, Gallinot said.

The woman reported that as she was riding her bicycle, a van made a right turn on Tenth Street, blocking her way and forcing her to stop, Gallinot said.

"The victim said she was grabbed from behind and pulled off her bike to the ground -- the suspect dragged her several feet toward a van," Gallinot said.

The victim foiled the kidnapping attempt when she began screaming and sprayed her attacker with a canister of tear gas she carried with her, Gallinot said.

That suspect is described as a white male in his late fifties, and he was driving a 1980's model silver-colored Ford van, Gallinot said.

Anyone with information about such incidents is urged to call police at 310/458-8491. Anyone who sees a suspicious person or incident is urged to call 911.

Police urge residents to watch for suspicious or unfamiliar individuals, to be aware of their surroundings and, when possible, travel in groups.