Two Found Dead; Bomb Report Turns Up “Low-level” Device

By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer

April 19 -- The bodies of a homeless man and a Santa Monica resident were found near each other Saturday nearly five minutes apart, although police say the deaths are not connected.

The causes of death remain unknown, although neither death seemed to be the result of foul play, according to Lt. Frank Fabrega, the police department spokesperson

“They both appear to be from natural causes,” he said.

The body of Santa Monica resident Daniel Arnold, 39, was found at 10:15 am in a carport in the 1200 block of Ninth Street.

Los Angeles County Coroner’s officials said Arnold was not homeless, as stated in a previous press report, and is survived by his wife.

Edward Steven Archuleta, 50, was found five minutes later near the 1500 block of Lincoln Boulevard. Archuleta was believed to be homeless.

Autopsies were performed on both men, and toxicology results are expected in coming weeks.

In other news, reports of a bomb in the parking lot near the Santa Monica Pier Saturday turned up a “low-level” explosive device consisting of gun-powder, Fabrega said.

Police were drawn to a van parked in the lot -- which is part of an area around the pier patrolled by bomb-sniffing dogs -- after the van owner’s girlfriend told police that her boyfriend was making a bomb, according to Fabrega.

Police called the Los Angeles Police Department’s bomb unit, secured the area, and arrested the man. The lot was closed for four hours.

“If the device were larger, they would have contained a wider area, but I think its safe to call it a low-level device,” Fabrega said.