SMPD Officers Arrest Homeless Man for Stabbing Another Man in front of the Salvation Army in Downtown Santa Monica

Homeless men often congregate in front of the Salvation army in Downtown Santa Monica. When one of them stabbed another, SMPD Officers were sent to investigate. The following is from their press release.

SMPD officers were dispatched to Salvation Army (1533 4th Street) to investigate an Assault with a Deadly Weapon, at around 1:15 am on March 7th. A witness provided a description of the suspect and continued to watch the suspect.

SMPD Officers responded quickly and detained Michael Montgomery, 29, near 4th and Colorado. Officers recovered a folding knife on Montgomery's person. A stabbing victim was bleeding from multiple wounds. Officers began to render first aid until Santa Monica Fire paramedics arrived to transport the victim to a local hospital.

The witness identified Montgomery as the suspect involved in this incident. He informed officers that he witnessed Montgomery strike and stab the victim multiple times. The witness yelled for Montgomery to stop. Montgomery then followed up by kicking the victim then dragged his body a short distance while he was down.

Montgomery was transported to the Santa Monica Police Jail where he was booked for Attempt Murder 664-187 PC and 207(A)PC–Kidnapping. The victim remains in critical but stable condition.

Anyone with any additional information pertaining to this incident is strongly encouraged to contact Detective George Burciaga at 310-458-8932 or the Watch Commander (24 hours) at 310-458- 8426. -- Lt. Rudy Flores