Santa Monica College (SMC) students were surprised Thursday evening with a phone and email alert detailing an individual suspected of sexually assaulting students.

South of the Drescher Hall seating area used by Santa Monica College (SMC) students. SMC main campus located in 1900 Pico blvd. Santa Monica, Calif. Friday 23, 2022. (Jorge Devotto | The Corsair)

Updated 1:06 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26: Written statement given by SMC Chief of Police Johnnie Adams reads:

Today at approximately 8:20 a.m., Christopher Noah Griddine II, age 27, was taken into custody on a probable cause arrest warrant for felony sexual assault. The arrest was made on the SMC Campus by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department with the assistance of the Santa Monica College Police. Mr. Griddine was transported to South Los Angeles Sheriff's Station with a bail of $1,000,000.
This is an active investigation being conducted by the Sheriff's department questions about the case should be directed to them. Should you have any information that would assist with this investigation, you are encouraged to call Sergeant Belen Lemus of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Special Victims Bureau at (562)-946-7012 .

A crime alert was issued to Santa Monica College (SMC) students and faculty via phone call and email around 5:13 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 22, warning about a possible threat to students on the main campus.

Santa Monica College Police Department (SMCPD) received information of a subject who had been befriending female SMC students near the outdoor tables located south of Drescher Hall.

"Once the subject befriends the victim he then lures the victim off campus with the pretense of 'hanging out.' The subject then sexually assaults the victim," the alert said. According to SMCPD, the suspect was described as a Black male, 5’9, and approximately 135 pounds with short black hair and black eyes.

The Corsair had the opportunity to meet with multiple female students on the main campus immediately following the crime alert and all expressed varying degrees of distress at the news. We asked what their feelings were regarding this news and what changes that they'll make going forward.

Andrea Giraldo said that even though she was initially making an effort to be social and friendly to others on campus, the alert has made her focus on keeping herself safe.

"These type of things remind you that even though these people are really friendly to you, that you never know when you're going to encounter someone like this, it's up to you to get back to reality again. It makes me feel really uncomfortable and makes me want to be very cautious with my surroundings from now on," Giraldo said.

Stacy, who declined to give her last name, thought the subject of the email was very harsh. "It's a school and it's supposed to be a safe environment because it's a workplace so it's really concerning," she said.

Stacy planned on making immediate changes after the alert. "So I have a class at 7:30, it's a night class, it's like safe, completely safe here, but now it's not, so I might have to ditch that class," she said. Stacy stated that she would not go to her evening class because of the alert.

She declined to give her last name for fear of reprisal from the school for not attending class because of the news.

In a statement to The Corsair, SMC Chief of Police Johnnie Adams urged students to report suspicious activity and call 911 in case of emergencies, as well as contact campus police and download the LiveSafe safety app.

"The safety of our students is our number one priority," he said. "I will have to defer to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department regarding this case as it occurred off campus in their jurisdiction, however we felt it best to be transparent to protect our community."

The incidents are currently under investigation, and the SMC Police requests that if you have encountered anything similar, please call (310) 434-4300 and ask for a supervisor, or email at SMCPD@smc.edu.

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