JOINT PROSTITUTION BUST YIELDS
NINE ARRESTS
Monday, October 11, 2010— Nine people have been arrested and cited as a result of a joint prostitution bust with the East Hazel Crest Police Department, Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced Monday.
The joint operation began as a result of complaints from business owners, local residents and others who were victims of, or witnesses to, prostitution-related crimes along the I-80 and Halsted corridor in East Hazel Crest. The East Hazel Crest Police Department reached out to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office to conduct the joint sting, which took place on Saturday, October 9th.
East Hazel Crest police officers rented rooms at a local hotel, and along with Cook County Sheriff’s Police Vice Unit officers, targeted prostitutes and johns in the immediate area, as well as customers and pimps. Officers also placed prostitution advertisements on Backpage.com.
Of the nine arrested during the joint operation, three men were cited for soliciting, and six women were cited for prostitution. One of the johns is an anesthesiologist, another is an air traffic controller, the third is a retired farmer. All were charged under East Hazel Crest’s Public Morals Ordinance and processed at the scene. One of the prostitutes arrested, Stacy Price, 23, of the 1000 block of E. 150th St. in Dolton, was also charged criminally with resisting a peace officer and battery to a police officer. The johns and prostitutes who were not criminally charged are not being named. Prostitutes arrested were provided with information on the programs offered by the Cook County Sheriff’s Department of Women’s Justice Services.
Those violating the East Hazel Crest Public Morals Ordinance face fines up to $1000. Like Cook County’s Public Morals Ordinance, East Hazel Crest prostitution arrests require a mandatory tow and a $500 administrative fee. Six vehicles were impounded during Saturday’s sting.