Santa Monica councilman turns the table when he confronts homeless man with litter

A Santa Monica city councilman was harassed on Sunday afternoon by an apparently homeless man after asking him to throw out fliers he just tore down.

Phil Brock, a lifelong resident of Santa Monica, witnessed the homeless tearing up flyers and throwing them on the floor.

The man, 20-year-old Sawyer Walden Allee, began spewing expletives at Brock, who went to pick up the fliers himself and deposited them in a nearby garbage can.

At that point, Allee confronted Brock, who advised the homeless man not to proceed. But Allee persisted, and when Brock turned to walk away, Allee threw some kind of warm, gooey liquid from a soda bottle at him.

He then threw the bottle himself and continued to yell and yell incoherently.

However, Brock was able to turn the tables and get Allee down and pinned down until the police apprehended the suspect.

The disturbing incident occurred shortly after the board of Downtown Santa Monica Inc. had voted to go ahead with a plan to install a private security company that will patrol the Third Street Promenade – where the attack took place.

According to the Santa Monica Police Department, Allee was arrested and booked for battery theft and grand larceny of a person. His trial is scheduled for late August.

Following his booking, Allee was placed on a 72-hour involuntary psychiatric hospitalization.

While Allee sprayed fluid on Brock shortly after the confrontation, Brock and his partner called 911 and tried to distance themselves from the crazed man. But Allee followed them as they tried to run away.

Allee finally snatched Brock’s white bucket hat off his head.

Brock later told the The Santa Monica Daily Press: “At that point I was like, ‘I’m not letting him steal my hat’ and I kept telling him to give me back the hat, give me back the hat.”

“When I tried to grab it, he stumbled backwards and fell, and I finally tried to stop him.”

Brock then called a community ambassador in the area to persuade public safety officers from the precinct. The officers arrived along with five Santa Monica Police Department units, who arrived minutes later.

“He was put in an SUV and taken away and we made statements. Then we walked home, a very sticky walk home, because whatever he’d had in the bottle, it was like Gatorade, Coke Cola, something really sticky and viscous, we were all covered in it,” Brock said.

“But we changed, got back in the car, went out to dinner and went to the movies. We didn’t let it intimidate us or stop us from going back to our boardwalk.”

Brock was attacked by a homeless person in Santa Monica last weekend. He said the issue of homeless people must be addressed in the interest of Santa Monica residents and business owners

The disturbing incident occurred shortly after the board of Downtown Santa Monica Inc. had voted to go ahead with a plan to install a private security company that will patrol the Third Street Promenade – where the attack took place.

A detailed report on the plan to have a private company patrol the area is expected to be presented at the next Council meeting, scheduled for next Tuesday.

Brock also stressed the Council’s need to “compassionately serve” Santa Monica business owners and residents, as well as the unhoused, indicating that it may be time for a stronger approach to the issue than in years past.

“After we had a chance to think about it,” Brock said, “my other half felt that if it wasn’t me, he would have either gone into a store or maybe even assaulted someone on the Promenade.

“Of course I’d rather it wasn’t me, but you know, if it’s a choice between a resident or visitor or salesperson who works in a store or me, I’d rather be myself.”