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# Santa Monica’s ban on smoking in public parks is paying off in unexpected ways.
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/transient-caught-carrying-loaded-semiautomatic-gun-police-stopped-23-year-old-for-smoking-a-cigarette-in-beach-park-found-weapon-and-drugs/
- Published: 2004-11-02T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T05:23:56.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: Crime, Ocean Park, #archive-import, Homeless

*Two teenagers shot in Sunset Park over weekend*

OCEAN PARK — Santa Monica’s ban on smoking in public parks is paying off in unexpected ways.

A loaded semiautomatic handgun was found Sunday on a homeless man who was stopped for smoking in a park south of luxury beachfront hotel Casa Del Mar, authorities said.

John Donahue, 23, originally from Burbank, also was cited for carrying three grams of metham-phetamine wrapped in individual bags. Donahue was serving probation at the time of his arrest for an earlier weapons violation and for grand theft auto, said Santa Monica Police Department Chief James T. Butts Jr.

It is illegal to smoke in any Santa Monica park, and on the pier and beaches. Violators can be cited up to $250, which prosecutors said ends up being $825 with court fees.

Donahue was with two men and one woman at Crescent Bay Park off of Ocean Avenue Sunday afternoon when police officers on a routine check saw him smoking a cigarette. The officers decided to pat Donahue down after he gave them incomplete information regarding his probation. It was then that they discovered he was carrying a loaded.45-caliber handgun in a hip holster, Butts said.

“This guy was someone that needed to be taken off the streets,” said Butts, who added transients are very rarely caught with guns. “Anyone with a criminal history that walks around a public place with a loaded firearm is a danger to the community, and this one was removed from the community.”

Donahue was being held Monday without bail, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Gage Scott. Prosecutors hadn’t filed formal charges, but said Donahue could face 10 years or more behind bars for the new charges, and additional time for felony probation violation.

Elected leaders banned smoking in Santa Monica parks in the spring of 2003\. They added local beaches and the pier to the ban last summer. Although maximum fines are steep, prosecutors said actual fines, if imposed, are usually much lower. They added the goal is to educate residents and encourage voluntary compliance.

Asked how many cases had been tried, Deputy City Attorney David Armstrong said the numbers weren’t immediately available but added, “It hasn’t been that many. We’ve had very few of them.”

In a separate incident last weekend, an alleged gang member opened fire late Friday on four teenagers who were walking on Pearl Street in Sunset Park, Butts said.

Two of the four youngsters were hit, one in the calf and the other in the foot. Both were taken to a local hospital and released with “non-serious” injuries. The victims were not Santa Monicans, but they were walking with two other teenagers known either to be local gang members or affiliated with them.

Butts said the foursome, all aged 13 to 16 years, left a party earlier Friday and had stopped by a second party at a Sunset Park home that had already ended. They were walking east on Pearl Street near 23rd Street when a car pulled up behind them and the passenger got out, yelled remarks disparaging of a Santa Monica gang and fired a handgun at them, Butts added.

It’s unknown if the victims were the intended targets or if they were affiliated with gangs. Police are looking for the suspects, who were described as two male Hispanics wearing dark knit beanie caps. Butts said they drove a faded blue, older model Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the SMPD’s robbery/homicide unit at (310) 458-8451 or the watch commander’s office at (310) 458-8426\. Callers who wish to provide information anonymously may call the We-Tip national hotline at (800) 78- CRIME (27463). Tipsters are given a code name and, if their tips lead to convictions, can collect up to $1,000 in reward money anonymously.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 2, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/110204.pdf?ref=smdp.com)