SANTA MONICA—On Wednesday, August 28, Lt. Erika Aklufi of the Santa Monica Police Department informed Canyon News that on August 27, the Los Angeles County Lifeguards flagged down a police officer assigned to the beach to report a sexual battery that transpired in the 1300 block of the beach.

The victim reported that at about 1:30 p.m., while she was sunbathing, an unknown male climbed on top of her and started thrusting against her. She quickly got up and her sister helped push the suspect away. The individual left southbound on the beach while the victim looked for help.

Using the description provided by the victim and witness, officers located the suspect a short distance away. Alonzo Dickson, 25, who was classified as a homeless individual, was positively identified and placed under arrest for Sexual Battery with Restraint [243.3 PC], a felony. The case will be presented to the LA County District Attorney for filing consideration. Dickson remains in police custody.

Dickson has no known arrest record in California; but, he has at least one pending criminal case in Washington state. Detectives are looking into the details of that incident as part of this investigation.

Anyone with details about Dickson or the incident is asked to contact Detective Murphy at Nicole.Murphy@santamonica.gov or the Watch Commander (24 hours) at (310) 458-8427.