> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Cops arrest two after east side shooting - URL: https://www.smdp.com/cops-arrest-two-after-east-side-shooting/ - Published: 2002-01-26T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-22T23:58:54.000Z - Author: Carolyn Sackariason - Tags: Crime, Santa Monica, #archive-import *Gangs, drug dealing concern residents* Two suspects were arrested for attempted murder of a police officer Friday after an early morning chase through a troubled eastside Santa Monica neighborhood ended in gunfire. The neighborhood, bordering Michigan Avenue and Delaware Avenue, between 17th Street and 20th Street, was in “lockdown” mode shortly before midnight after police stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation. The driver evaded police by speeding away, according to authorities. The suspect then stopped and abandoned the vehicle in the 2000 block of 20th Street and fled on foot through a backyard and jumped a fence, running westbound. At about 12:05 a.m., officers stationed at 18th Street and Delaware reported they had been fired upon. A bullet hit a police car, though no officers were injured. A short time later, officers arrested the owner of the car, who was found in the vicinity of 16th Street and Michigan Avenue, according to police. A second suspect was also arrested. Neither person was identified, though police said one is a male adult and the other is a male juvenile. The scene attracted helicopters from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Los Angeles Police Department, as well as officers from the Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Culver City police departments. Officers discovered shell casings in the 1700 block of Delaware and recovered a gun along the chase route. Residents who live within a block of the incident reported hearing multiple gunshots. “It sounds like Beirut around here,” said a resident, adding when she saw a police officer with his gun drawn next to her house, it didn’t alarm her. “I don’t mind him standing on the wall,” she said. “I want them to catch ‘em.” She said she expected something to “go down” weeks ago because there’s been a lot of activity on the streets. All residents interviewed requested anonymity for fear of retaliation from the neighborhood’s gangs. “They are getting bold around here,” said one man who lives on Ocean Park, but owns an apartment building on 18th Street. “They are crazy.” Police would not confirm that the incident is gang-related, saying they are still investigating. One resident said the neighborhood surrounding Delaware Avenue has been engulfed in a turf war between two gangs — the Graveyard Crypts and the Santa Monica 17th Street gang — for years. The tension appears to be not only racially motivated — one gang is black, the other Latino — but also drug-related. Drug dealing on street corners along Delaware Avenue has a been a problem for years. Most of it is cocaine traffic and a lot of it is dealt out of the city-funded, low-income housing on 17th Street and Delaware, according to residents. “The guys have been dealing out of there forever,” said one resident. “They (the city) don’t care.” Individuals at the low-income housing complex threatened a reporter taking pictures of the scene. “Familiar faces show up and you know they are always up to no good,” said one resident who lives on Delaware Avenue. Some residents are frustrated because they don’t feel there is enough police presence in the area. “The (Pico Neighborhood Association) has said we need more policing in the neighborhood for the last 10 years,” said one resident. “There should be enough cops here to get on them (gang members). Unfortunately, it is going to take a kid or a cop shot before anything is done about it.” A police substation is located just blocks away at Virginia Avenue Park in response to the increased violence in the area. Santa Monica City Councilman Richard Bloom defended the police department, saying the Pico and Virginia Avenue Park neighborhoods are consistently patrolled. The problem, however, is that police can’t watch over one area 24 hours a day. “There is a group of residents that has voiced its opinion there,” he said. “But we can’t predict when and where it’s going to happen.” Santa Monica Police Lt. Frank Fabrega said more than two officers are assigned to the neighborhood and patrols have increased in response to the growing number of crimes there. “The bicycle officers are assigned out there,” he said. “But we don’t discuss deployment.” In the past few years, the neighborhood has morphed into a mixture of middle-class working families who live in single-family homes, along with people in low-income housing, and young adults and children who have chosen drug dealing and gang activity as their way of life. One resident says the building owners, including the city, need to pay more attention to their properties. “The landlords need to be accountable,” she said. “If you have drug dealing out of your building you should be responsible for making it stop.” Others are frustrated because they feel ignored. “If the neighbors are shooting neighbors then it’s no big deal,” said one resident who lives across the street from where the shooting occurred. “The difference this time is that they shot at a cop. Now this ups the stakes and it’ll be interesting to see if the police will take it seriously because they were targeted.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/012602-02_01.jpg) Santa Monica Police officers monitor the perimeter of the crime scene at 17th Street and Delaware Avenue, where a shooting took place early Friday morning. (Photo: Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 26, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/012602.pdf?ref=smdp.com)