Santa Monica Councilmember Phil Brock attacked by a man on Third Street Promenade
Santa Monica Councilmember Phil Brock attacked by a man on Third Street Promenade
Summer LinSanta Monica City Councilmember Phil Brock was attacked over the weekend in downtown Santa Monica by a man who was later arrested on a battery charge.
Brock told The Times that on Saturday
atabout 2:45 p.m., he was walking north on the Third Street Promenade with his partner, Kathryn Boole, when he saw a man tearing down signs from a vacant storefront and throwing the paper on the ground.
The Santa Monica Police Department confirmed the mans identity as 20-year-old Sawyer Walden Allee, who refused to provide officers with address information and appeared to be unhoused.
Brock said he asked Allee if he could throw the papers in the trash, to which Allee allegedly responded with expletives. Brock then went over to throw the papers in the trash. Allee confronted Brock, who said he was a Santa Monica City Council member. Allee allegedly tried to take Brocks hat and threw a clear liquid on Brock and his partner. Brock said he was also pushed "several times."
Brock and Boole each called 911, Brock said. Allee then took Brocks sunhat and stumbled and fell to the ground. Brock ended up holding Allees head down and yelled at a custodian to alert a public safety officer. Santa Monica police then arrived and took Allee into custody.
Allee faces battery and theft charges, according to Santa Monica Police Department spokesperson Erika Aklufi. He was issued a citation per Los Angeles County bail rules, and a court date was set for August.
Brock said
his themiddle finger on his right hand was sprained but that he didn't sustain any "drastic" injuries. He didn't know how his finger was sprained but said he assumed it was during the confrontation.
"I hate to say this but bottom line is that if it wasnt me, it couldve been someone who wasnt able to react as calmly as I did," he said. "I didnt lose control even after he had pushed me several times."
Brock said that Allee was placed on a 5150 hold, which allows an adult undergoing a mental health crisis to be involuntarily detained for 72 hours to assess
if whetherthey're a danger to themselves or others.
"Its not compassionate to let people lie on the streets and die," Brock said. "At the same time, as a city, we need to be compassionate to our residents whove paid taxes, who paid to have what they hope
[are]safe streets, bike routes to walk and drive and bicycle, and we spend a lot on a downtown where were suffering from vacancies partly because of homelessness."
Aklufi couldn't disclose
if whetherAllee was released, because the doctor at the facility determines the length of the hold, which is protected under federal law restricting
therelease of medical information.
Records from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department show that Allee was arrested twice in the last month
on suspicion of committingfelonies and then released.
I dont think he needs jail, Brock said. I think what he needs is mental health. He was crying out, Wheres my $1,000 disability? Give me my disability." The council member said he hoped that, if Allee is prosecuted, he'll be diverted into mental health treatment.
The board of Downtown Santa Monica Inc., a nonprofit that works with the city to manage the downtown area, voted last month to proceed with an initiative
tohire a private security company to deploy unarmed but uniformed security personnel on the Third Street Promenade. The Santa Monica City Council will vote next week on whether
the company,Covered 6, can be hired.
Brock said that, although there is already a private security company patrolling the promenade, Covered 6, which also patrols Beverly Hills, works with the police, has bulletproof vests and marked cars, and is
comprised composedof former police and military members.
"The hope is that theyre much better trained than normal private security," he added, "and trained in both homelessness help outreach as well as
well assecurity."
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