Robbery Suspects’ Escape Try Hits a Tiny Glitch--the Pacific

Two armed-robbery suspects did a good job running from a Santa Monica patrolman and a police dog late Saturday until they came upon an insurmountable barrier: the Pacific Ocean.

In their efforts to elude Officer Boyd Bush and his four-legged assistant, Bear, robbery suspects Kennard Bryson, 25, and Milton Chattman, 31, ran onto the beach near Crescent Bay Park and eventually had to be pulled from the surf, said Police Sgt. Robert Legerski.

“I really don’t know where they thought they were going,” Legerski said. “It was either jump in the water or stick it out.”

The chase began about 10 p.m. when patrol officers spotted the men and noticed that they matched descriptions given by a man robbed at knifepoint moments earlier at Bicknell Street and Neilson Way, Legerski said.

The two men fled from approaching officers and ran south on the Promenade before Bush and Bear blocked their path, Legerski.

The pair then took off across the beach toward the ocean, Legerski said. Boyd fired two shots from his service revolver when one of the men stopped and pointed an object in the officer’s direction, Legerski said, but both rounds missed.

The two men then waded into the surf, followed closely by the German shepherd, which bit them several times, Legerski said.

The suspects were eventually pulled from the ocean and taken to a local hospital for treatment of dog bites, Legerski said. They were then booked in the Santa Monica Jail on suspicion of robbery and assault. Bail was set at $5,000 each.

Police searched the beach for weapons but did not recover any.