By Daily Press staff
A small compact parked car is the latest victim of a drive-by shooting in a troubled eastside Santa Monica neighborhood.
On Thursday at approximately 10 p.m., Santa Monica Police officers responded to the 1800 block of 17th Street in the Pico Neighborhood for a call of shots fired.
When the officers arrived on the scene, an eye-witness informed them a new model, dark colored-SUV with tinted windows pulled alongside the car, lowered its passenger window and fired several shots at the vehicle. The SUV then sped southbound on 17th Street, the witness informed officers.
A similarly described SUV was involved in a drive-by shooting on March 10 along the 1900 block of Delaware Street — which is near where Thursday’s incident occurred. A young black man riding a bicycle was shot in the abdomen and has since recovered.
However it is unknown if the two incidences are connected.
“The detectives handling the case will be reviewing past incidences for possible connections,” said Lt. Frank Fabrega, an SMPD spokesman.
Police could not say if the witness had provided officers with the suspect’s license plate number.
“As usual though, (SMPD detectives) will be contacting surrounding local jurisdictions to determine if they have had similar incidences or if similar vehicles had been stopped in their jurisdictions,” Fabrega said.
The unoccupied parked car sustained minor gunshot damage, and no injuries were reported from the incident.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Robbery/ Homocide unit of the SMPD at (310)458-8451 or the watch commander’s office at (310)458-8426.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 1, 2002. Read the original PDF.