COMMUNITY BRIEFS
By Daily Press staff
POLICE HDQRTS. — Police arrested one of two suspects who may be responsible for a rash of armed robberies at local massage parlors.
Santa Monica Police arrested Matthew Luke Moulton, 21, of Reseda, on Thursday after he fled the scene of an armed robbery and hid from authorities in the Sunset Park neighborhood. Moulton and his alleged accomplice, who hasn’t been caught, were seen by officers jumping a fence at 11th Street and Ocean Park Boulevard shortly before 10 p.m. on Thursday.
Police closed off the area and searched the neighborhood before capturing Moulton at about midnight, said SMPD Lt. Frank Fabrega.
The first armed robbery occurred at about 9:30 p.m. at Sun Massage Parlor in the 1400 block of Lincoln Boulevard. Responding officers were checking other massage parlors in the area when they received a second call of another armed robbery in progress at Skin Paradise massage parlor in the 2400 block of Lincoln Boulevard. When officers got to the area, they saw the suspects fleeing, Fabrega said.
Police found Moulton in the 1100 block of Maple Street. The victim positively identified Moulton as the alleged robber. He is being held on $50,000 bail.
The second suspect is described as a white male, between 19 and 21 years old, five feet, six inches tall, 140 pounds, with brown hair and wearing a blue sweatshirt with a hood.
There have been seven armed robberies at area massage parlors in the past few months, with many others in the San Fernando Valley. Police said the suspects enter the parlors, confront the employees and demand money. During two of the robberies, the suspects used a knife to threaten the victim and in another incident, they simulated a weapon. No one has been injured during the robberies, police said.
SMPD detectives are working with the Los Angeles Police Department in the ongoing investigation. It’s unknown whether Moulton and his alleged accomplice are responsible for the other Santa Monica robberies.
“It’s too early to say if they are linked,” he said. approval by FEMA ensures the city’s continued eligibility for federal disaster assistance funds following a declared disaster, as well as a pre-disaster funding to reduce disaster impacts in the community.
The primary goals of the plan are: To protect lives and property, improve emergency services capability, increase public awareness of local hazards, develop partnerships in implementation and promote sustainable living.
For information on the plan, contact the Santa Monica Office of Emergency Management at (310) 458-8686. It’s not all in your head
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 7, 2005. Read the original PDF.