SANTA MONICA, Calif. — A suspect accused of attacking a 6-year-old girl in Santa Monica was in custody Thursday following "another incident" in Venice.
Ahsante Lamar Morgan, 23, who is believed to be homeless, was arrested in connection with the attack that occurred around 7 p.m. Sunday at Main Street and Marine Avenue, according to the Santa Monica Police Department.
The arrest was made by the Los Angeles Police Department “after another incident in Venice,” according to Santa Monica police.
The LAPD said only that they arrested a suspect on the Venice boardwalk for allegedly assaulting a 7-year-old child whose gender was not provided. It was unclear if the assault occurred on the boardwalk or elsewhere. No other details were immediately available.
Santa Monica police said they would be working with LAPD to present the investigation quickly to the District Attorney’s Office, “aiming for a swift filing of felony child abuse charges.”
In the Sunday night attack, the suspect was sitting on a bus bench and “acting erratically,” according to Santa Monica Police.
“A 6-year-old child and her parents were walking northbound on Main Street behind the bench when the suspect spun around and struck the child, causing her to fall to the ground,” police said in a statement. “Thankfully, the child was not seriously injured.”
The suspect fled northbound on Main Street.
“An incident like this one is an affront to public safety and will not be tolerated — even more so that a child was involved,” Santa Monica Police Chief Ramon Batista said in a video posted on social media. “Any crime committed in Santa Monica is a crime too many. Our department stands strong in the face of anyone who chooses to victimize those who are in this city. Our detectives are working hard to uncover more details of the incident and identify and apprehend the suspect.”
“We appreciate our partnership with our community, relying on our residents, business owners and visitors to provide us with information about any criminal behavior,” Batista said. “We continue our specialized uniformed deployments on Main Street and in our downtown area. Our goal is to be proactive and present, providing safety and security to our residents and visitors.”
Although the suspect had not been confirmed as being homeless, Batista said the police department deployed its Homeless Liaison Program Team of officers and a mental health clinician "to provide much-needed resources to those experiencing homelessness."
"Our efforts, combined with the Therapeutic Transport Team and the Salvation Army, provide us a platform to redouble our efforts to connect individuals with treatment and shelter," Batista said.
According to local media, the girl's family was visiting California from the East Coast when the man attacked the girl after the visitors walked out of an ice cream shop.
"It was awful," said Christina Tullock, a friend of the girl's family who had been showing them around town. "I was afraid he was going to hit her again. I was afraid that my friend was going to get hurt protecting his kid. I picked her up, and we ran as far away as we could get quickly."
Anyone with information on the case was urged to call contact Detective Diaz at Daniel.Diaz@santamonica.gov, Detective Sergeant Goodwin at Chad.Goodwin@santamonica.gov, or call the 24-hour watch commander line at 310- 458-8427.