August 8, 2024 -- Two separate fights broke out between food vendors, two carjacking suspects were arrested and a homeless man was forced to remove his large encampments across the city.

Those were among the notable incidents included in the second installment of a new Police Department blog covering the the week starting Sunday, July 14.

The arrests were among the 46 Santa Monica police officers made that week, with 19 of them for felonies and 27 for misdemeanors, according to the weekly "The Blue Notebook" blog.

The notable incidents included the arrests of two suspects for carjacking and of a homeless man for "establishing large encampments."

In the first incident, the carjacking suspect was arrested on the 1500 block of Ocean Avenue after fleeing from officers.

"A credit card from one of the original victims was found in the suspect’s wallet," according to the blog post by Lt. Erika Aklufi, the Police Department spokesperson.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney filed robbery and carjacking charges, Aklufi said.

Also on the week of July 14, a homeless suspect was arrested for carjacking after forcing the occupants out of a vehicle and attempting to leave with the car.

Witnesses intervened, and officers took the suspect into custody.

On Saturday, July 20, SMPD's Homeless Liaison Program (HLP) team arrested a homeless suspect for assault with a deadly weapon after they responded to a vandalism/burglary call at the 900 block of 2nd Street.

HLP team members contacted the suspect, "who was holding a rock and a water hose" and "appeared agitated," according to the blog post.

The suspect told the officers he "was carrying the rock to protect himself" and dropped it after officers spoke to him "for some time."

On Thursday, July 18, the HLP team contacted a "known homeless individual who recently returned to the city and has been establishing large encampments in several locations."

He was cited for violating the municipal code and "cleaned up the encampments." It was one of 27 arrests for misdemeanors made that week.

The incidents involving food vendors come after the City Council beefed up private security at the Pier three years ago to help quell out of control vendors, some of them operating illegally.

On July 17, SMPD's Directed Action Response Team (DART) helped to "keep the peace" as Code enforcement performed the annual vendor and pedicab inspections in the Beach lot by the Pier.

In one of the two fights involving vendors that week, "the victim was attempting to purchase churros and was bumped by a vendor" at the Pier, Aklufi wrote.

"An argument ensured and the suspect pushed and punched the victim," who wanted his assailant prosecuted for the battery, according to Aklufi. The suspect was arrested, booked in the Santa Monica Jail, and issued a citation.

The second incident involved a "fruit vendor on fruit vendor fight" on the 1200 block of the Beach.

"The victim and suspect get into a physical altercation after the victim started filming the suspect for a code violation,' Aklufi wrote. "The fight escalated when the suspect put the victim in a choke hold."