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MONDAY
03.05.18 Volume 17 Issue 91
@smdailypress
Crime trends trouble Montana shops and residents
@smdailypress
MomsHomeCare.com
WHAT’S UP WESTSIDE ..................PAGE 2 EARTH TALK ....................................PAGE 4 KNOW BEFORE YOU GO ................PAGE 5 CRIME WATCH ..................................PAGE 8 MYSTERY PHOTO ............................PAGE 9
Santa Monica Daily Press
smdp.com
New rules could limit Bird scooter operations
ROBBERY: Robert Abalov is wanted in connection with a robbery.
MATTHEW HALL Daily Press Editor
Following a pair of robberies on Montana Ave. this month, store owners and residents of the area are questioning how to secure their homes and businesses in the face of a troubling series of crimes. Two jewelry stores have been robbed on the same block this year and the area has experienced residential burglaries including a violent home invasion last year. SMPD has identified the suspect in the recent robbery as Robert Art Abalov, a 32 year- old Los Angeles resident who was still at large at press time. The incidents have prompted calls for more security, both private and public. “The reality is we’re really concerned as merchants because as this happens more and more, fewer and fewer people are going to come shop because they don’t feel safe,” said Ryan Olehass, President of the Montana Ave. Merchants Association. Olehass said some merchants have asked for private security patrols along the business district but the price to provide even an unarmed guard is more than the organization can currently afford. However, they are considering ways to levy additional assessments
File photo
GROUNDED: New rules proposed by City Council could allow the city to fine Bird for scooters left on the sidewalk.
KATE CAGLE Daily Press Staff Writer
ABALOV
to fund security efforts and Olehass said the discussions are necessary due to a lack of preventative actions by the Santa Monica Police Department. He said there were reports of individuals casing the neighborhood prior to the January robbery. “Our disappointment was we didn’t see an increased presence of police,” he said. “Presence sometimes deters criminal activity and we didn’t see that.” According to Olehass, robberies are rare in shopping centers with a robust law enforcement presence SEE CRIME PAGE 7
Isabel A. Ash Esq. PERSONAL INJURY, PEDESTRIAN, BICYCLE, MOTORCYCLE, RIDESHARES, COMMERCIAL VEHICLE ACCIDENTS, SLIP AND FALLS, CATASTROPHIC INJURIES
(877) 7 ASH LEGAL T: 818.343.4480 | E: Isabel@ashlegalgroup.com
City staff is recommending an emergency ordinance to migrate Bird Scooters off sidewalks in Santa Monica and onto private property. The Council will debate an ordinance Tuesday that will prohibit offering or displaying a
“shared mobility device” from the public right-of-way or public property without City authorization. Under the proposed law any vehicles, including Bird scooters, left on the sidewalk would be subject to immediate impounding. “Urgent regulatory actions are necessary to protect public health and safety,” said a recent report by
Salvador Valles, the assistant director of planning and community development for Santa Monica. City staff recommends an impound fee of $60 per scooter and administrative fines of $500 to $1000 for violating the law. According to the report, the city SEE BIRD PAGE 6
Stabbing victim speaks out after violent attack KATE CAGLE Daily Press Staff Writer
A GoFundMe campaign to help a local woman who was attacked and stabbed in her Santa Monica apartment quickly surpassed its goals and raised $15,000 in just one day. The fundraiser for Leigh Collins
is no longer accepting donations. “As scary as it was, I came out on the winning side of it and I’m going to be okay,” Collins said in a video posted from the hospital on the fundraising page. “I appreciate all of the calls and the prayers.” Police say DNA evidence collected at the scene led them to 25-
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year-old Rashad Harris, who was on probation for a separate breakin when Santa Monica police arrested him Tuesday. Harris is currently held on $1.1 million bail and is due back in court April 10. Collins said she was asleep in SEE VICTIM PAGE 7
Gary Limjap (310) 586-0339 In today’s real estate climate ...
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