Four people have been charged in connection with a fight last month near the Santa Monica Pier that authorities now say began when a vendor began sexually assaulting several women.
The Santa Monica Police Department announced over the weekend that prosecutors have filed assault charges against four men and sexual battery charges against one of them. Authorities are still seeking more information about the incident.
On the afternoon of June 29, the police received a 911 call indicating that several men were fighting near the pier. Another person was reportedly stabbed, according to police.
Before police arrived on the scene, a Santa Monica police drone confirmed that a fight was underway. initial, Police told The Times This was a “fighting situation” that occurred on the beach near lifeguard tower No. 14.
But police have since said the fight began when a vendor – identified by authorities as 30-year-old Efigenio Tacuba – allegedly approached a group of beachgoers and “tackled several Sexual assault of women”. After others in the group confronted him, Takuba sought help from other traders. Other vendors then armed themselves with umbrella poles, belts and at least one knife.
In the ensuing skirmish, one person was stabbed and another suffered a broken ankle. Both were taken to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.
At the time, police said in a social media post that five people had been arrested. On Saturday, the department said four people had been charged. Three people – Jorge Cruz Murcia, Samuel Manzanares Hernandez and Oscar Samuel Hernandez – each face two counts of use of a deadly weapon The charge of assault. A fourth, Takuba, faces those charges along with three counts of misdemeanor sexual battery.
The type of sexual battery charge Takuba faces is defined under California law as touching “an intimate part of another person against his or her will for the purpose of sexual arousal.”
“More arrests may follow,” authorities said in their latest release. Anyone with information or footage relating to this incident is encouraged to contact Det. Jacob Holloway via email or call the watch watch commander at (310) 458-8427.
weeks after the incident Two German tourists stabbed A third person was injured in an apparently unprovoked attack near the Santa Monica Pier. In this case, a suspect was arrested in late May.
The multi-person melee came three days after a Santa Monica man allegedly attacked three women at the beach, trying to strangle a 17-year-old before attacking and biting a woman who tried to save her women. He also allegedly dragged a 72-year-old woman into the sea and pushed her underwater.
that person, Jawan Dwayne GarnettThe 32-year-old was charged with two counts of attempted murder and a host of other felonies.
