Top 5 Westside Stories: Boston Marathon, Bank Robberies, Jewelry Heist, Alcohol Sales, Yacht for Rent

Close out your weekend with a recap of the newsiest and most popular Patch articles from last week. Here are the five stories that topped the headlines on Westside Patch sites:

• The Boston Marathon bombings Monday, and the manhunt for the two suspects that followed, kept Americans glued to the TV last week. The Westside connections included two Pacific Palisades runners who recalled the chaos after the bombings, one who said he would run again and another who remembers the youngest victim of the tragedy. "I did a flashback and put myself in his family's position," said Palisades resident Ken Heisz about 8-year-old Martin Richard, killed in the marathon explosions. "I didn't sleep well that night as I'm sure other runners did not."

• Robbery suspect Danny Gaudio was arrested Thursday night in Culver City after hits on banks in Manhattan Beach, Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades.  The robber, dubbed the "beach cruiser bandit" because he fled two of the banks on a bicycle, was described after the Pacific Palisades heist Wednesday as "possibly older than 40 with a receding hairline," wearing a blue polo shirt and blue jeans, and carrying a black handgun. Police arrested Gaudio after a restaurant worker with Culver City's Pitfire Pizza thought a customer matched the description in a "wanted" flyer. 

• Three robbers walked into a Santa Monica jewelry store on Montana Avenue, smashed display cases and fled in a car on April 14. Witnesses told investigators the men used at least one handgun to enter the store. Police set up a perimeter and caught one of the suspects in the 2000 block of Centinela. The second suspect was found about an hour later in the same area. A third suspect was arrested the next day. 

• The Venice Neighborhood Council on Tuesday approved the sale of alcohol at the Local 1205 eatery on Abbott Kinney Boulevard after turning it down last year. Not all supported the decision. Those opposed argued that Abbot Kinney Boulevard does not need more businesses selling alcohol and they cited its proximity to local homes. The council also allowed Local 1205's juice bar to close at 3 a.m.

• A 265-foot yacht anchored at Marina del Rey's Del Rey Landing has been turning heads for the past month, not least of all because it has a helicopter sitting on its onboard copter pad. The Air can accommodate 12 guests in seven cabins, according to the Charter Yacht website. To rent the Air for a week will set you back a mere $980,187 to $1,080,000.

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