SANTA MONICA – Earlier this week, the Santa Monica Police Department arrested a man in connection with the weekend stabbing of a brother and a sister.
Police arrested Ivan Angel Plancarte, 20, and later charged him with attempted murder. The police are still searching for the second suspect and are confident they will find him.
The stabbing happened early Saturday morning when the brother and sister, along with friends – who were visiting Santa Monica, decided they take a late night sojourn to the beach and put their feet in the water. While walking toward the water, the group of friends noticed two Hispanic men riding on scooters while seeming to be intoxicated. After some time, they noticed the two men were closer and the group began to feel uncomfortable.
Eventually, the two men approached the group and started to verbally attack them. It is not clear what happened next, but the two men allegedly pulled knives from their pockets and attacked the group. The brother was stabbed five times while the sister was stabbed four times.
The sister provided these pictures to KTLA:
As the altercation escalated, one of the people in the group called 911 who arrived within two minutes. On a side note, speaking from experience, many Santa Monica residents question the validity of arrival time by SMPD. Nonetheless, by the time SMPD arrived on site, they suspects had fled either on foot or on the possibly rented scooters they were previously seen riding.
One Santa Monica resident who has been following the crime said, “Thank God the brother and sister weren’t seriously injured. But,” he continued, “If the criminals rented the scooters, we should be able to find out their identities because they had to use their cell phones, credit cards, and app to rent the scooters,” He stated.
Despite a recent rise in physical violence at the beach and incidents of drunkenness, drug abuse, and marijuana use – the city of Santa Monica is considering allowing for people to openly drink in parts of Santa Monica.
Reference content courtesy of KTLA and Santa Monica Daily Press.
