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By Lookout Staff

July 3 -- Police on Wednesday arrested a convicted Santa Monica felon after he pulled a gun on an undercover officer in the Pico Neighborhood.

Jason Anthony Hurtado, 25, was booked for assault with a deadly weapon and assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, said Sgt. Renaldi Thurston, the Police Department spokesman.

Hurtado also was booked for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and for violating his probation.

The incident took place at 6:25 p.m. in a neighborhood that was the site of a recent homicide.

“The subject pointed the firearm at the undercover officer who had identified himself as a police officer,” Thurston said.

“The suspect then tossed the gun away and fled on foot,” he said. “Officers quickly apprehended the suspect and recovered the firearm.”

The arrest came four days after a 28-year-old Latino man was gunned down in the Pico Neighborhood, marking the fourth homicide in Santa Monica this year and the 39th in the violence-prone neighborhood since 1989.

Byron Lopez, 28, was shot shortly before 10 p.m. on June 27 in the area of the 2000 block of Court 19, a gang-riddled pocket of the Pico Neighborhood.

Anyone with additional information on the homicides should call Santa Monica Police Department Detectives at 310.458.8451 Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. or the Watch Commander at 310.458.8427 at any time.

Anyone wishing to remain anonymous may call the WeTip hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME (27463).