By Lookout Staff

May 30, 2023 -- A homeless man assaulted two women and stabbed two men who came to their defense in separate incidents Saturday night at the Santa Monica Pier, according to police.

At around 7:30 p.m., Police Department DART officers patrolling the Pier were flagged down by a Spanish-speaking tourist from Mexico, police said.

The victim "told the officers that about ten minutes prior, a male suspect approached her and grabbed her breast," said Lt. Erika Aklufi, the Police Department spokesperson.

"The suspect, later identified as Johnathan Peck, continued walking past the victim, but stayed in the area.

"When the victim told her friend what happened the friend approached Peck and confronted him about the sexual assault," Aklufi said.

Peck, 25, stabbed the man in the face and neck with a large, sharpened stick, she said. "Peck fled the scene but was quickly apprehended by additional officers on the Pier," Aklufi said. While investigating the case, officers learned that Peck was also responsible for a similar assault that took place a short time earlier.

"Peck attacked another female, grabbing her breasts, and another male victim who was also stabbed with the stick," Aklufi said.

The victims were not from Santa Monica, Aklufi said.

The two stabbing victims required medical attention and were taken to local hospitals and treated for minor injuries.

The assaults come less than one week after the City Council voted unanimously to extend a contract with CA Panther for security services on the Pier from July 1 through December 31 -- at a cost of $327,969 ("Council Beefs Up Security at Pier, Downtown Parks," May 24, 2023).

The contract will be paid for with funds generated by Measure CS, a bed tax hike approved by voters in November that will pump an estimated $4.1 million a year into the general fund.