Campus police captain attacked on campus
Santa Monica College Police Captain Raymond Bottenfield was attacked by a man Monday morning. According to witnesses, the man lunged for Bottenfield’s gun holster. At 11:50 a.m. Bottenfield was walking towards the Pearl Street exit when a suspect lunged at him from behind and tried to snatch his gun. Students standing by attempted to help Bottenfield subdue the attacker.
"Very simply put, a subject that was known to us, who had been given a stay away order in the past, attacked an officer [Bottenfield] from behind and went for his gun," said SMC police Sergeant Jere Romano.
"He's an outsider," said Romano about the suspect. "He's not generally homeless but he lives in a garage across the way. Long story short he likes to hang out on campus, there's no real business for him being here. We've dealt with him many times. It's unknown why he decided to attack the officer at this time. It's still in the investigative stage."
SMC student Mibo Huynh was standing with a group of friends by the bike racks and witnessed the assault. "The man just tried to drag the police man and we saw that he tried to get his gun, and we were so scared. Then like five guys jumped in," she said.
"He came out of nowhere and then the policeman was laying on his back," said SMC student Veronica Odetunde who witnessed the attack alongside Huynh.
The Santa Monica College Police Department arrived at the scene and arrested the suspect who was badly bruised and bleeding. Santa Monica Police also arrived to book the suspect after his injuries were treated by paramedics. Captain Bottenfield was also taken to a hospital with injuries including a leg scraping and was released later in the afternoon.
SMCPD Chief Albert Vasquez later in the day confirmed the details of the assault and commended SMC students for jumping in to help Captain Bottenfield. He stated that the suspect was still being booked and his identity confirmed. Once the booking process was complete Vasquez confirmed that more details of the case would be revealed.