SUNDAY, DEC. 2, AT 1:15 P.M. Police responded to the 1400 block of Fourth Street — Active clothing store — regarding a commercial burglary that had just occurred. When officers arrived, they spoke with an employee at the store, who said a man walked in and took a pair of blue jeans and wrapped them around his neck like a scarf before walking out without paying for the item. The employee called police and officers detained him a short time later. It turns out that the suspect had committed a similar theft at another store in the Santa Monica Place mall, but the owner did not want to press charges, police said. The suspect was charged with the burglary because he had no money to pay for the jeans. He was identified as Erik James Richardson, 26, a transient. His bail was set at $20,000.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 7, 2007. Read the original PDF.