By Lookout Staff

July 9, 2026 -- During the final week in June, Santa Monica police were involved in three incidents involving illegal fire arms and, in an unusual occurrence, a shoplifter bit an officer during an arrest.

The incidents were among the 92 arrests made by police from June 21 to 27, bringing the number of arrests this year to 2,558, more than 1,000 more than during the same period last year, according to the weekly Police Department blog The Blue Notebook.

Two of the arrests involved armed robberies, with the first, taking place on the evening of June 22 when police officers located a felony vehicle wanted in connection with an armed robbery in Whittier.

"Within minutes, K9 Officer Norton and his handler located the vehicle near Pico Boulevard and Main Street and safely followed it as additional officers responded," according to a post on SMPD's Facebook page.

"The vehicle stopped in the area of Ocean Park Boulevard and Main Street, where officers conducted a high-risk stop based on information that the involved suspects may have been armed."

The driver, identified as George Jeremiah Romero, was taken into custody without incident. Officers also "observed what appeared to be a firearm magazine inside the vehicle."

Whittier Police Department responded to the scene and took custody of Romero and the vehicle as part of their ongoing investigation, police officials said.

The other armed robbery, which took place on June 24, resulted in a shooting at Smoke World on Lincoln and Pico Boulevards after two suspects entered the shop armed with firearms and demanded cigarettes.

"During the incident, the employee was shot in the upper leg," police said. "Two days later, CHP (the California Highway Patrol) located the suspect vehicle, pursued it briefly, and took two suspects into custody.

"Two firearms were recovered after being thrown from the vehicle," police said.

A third illegal firearm-related arrest took place on the beachfront at Appian Way and Pacific Terrace after "officers contacted a driver parked along a red curb and noted the smell of marijuana.

"A firearm was seen in plain view in the driver-side door panel," according to the police blog. "Officers recovered an unregistered firearm with a 15-round magazine and arrested the driver."

In an unusual incident that took place during the same week, a man was arrested at the Chevron store at 1330 Santa Monica Boulevard for a shoplifting incident that escalated into an estes robbery after the suspect used force.

In the incident, the suspect "attempted to strike a store employee, stole cigarettes, and later bit an officer during the arrest, causing visible injury," according to The Blue Notebook.

"The suspect was taken into custody following a positive field show-up," police said.