Last week, Tucson Police Department released 247 pages of police reports regarding its three-year investigation into a prostitution ring.
The heavily-redacted reports were released in response to public records requests made by the Arizona Daily Star and other media outlets.
Police Chief Roberto Villaseñor confirmed June 1 that several officers are being investigated as part of the probe.
Many of the documents are related to a Jan. 27, 2015 raid on several homes and businesses that the "By Spanish" prostitution ring operated from, but the report also contains details about the investigation throughout the years.
Here are some highlights:
- An undercover officer posing as a customer received a one-hour massage from a By Spanish girl. It's unclear what type of massage he got.
- During the Jan. 27 raid of one of the By Spanish locations, officers collected leather paddles found inside a dryer as evidence.
- An interview with an informant who was also an employee revealed that the girls are very careful to not let the customers see each other and that in most cases, the clients are allowed to shower prior to leaving the business.
- While the search warrants were being executed, officers noticed a vehicle that was listed on the warrant leaving the property. When they pulled the driver over and showed her their TPD badges and IDs, she didn’t believe they were police and requested that they call 911. She later became combative when detectives tried to speak with her, and had to be handcuffed.
- Another confidential informant who was also an employee of By Spanish told police that she was hired to do legitimate massages, but knew about the VIP massages. During her job interview, she was told she had to pick one type before she started and couldn’t switch to a VIP if the client requested.
- An undercover officer had a job interview with one of By Spanish’s operators, where they discussed the details of the businesses operation in the middle of a restaurant. She was told that she would have four days of training to get used to the different body types.
- During surveillance of the massage parlor locations, officers noticed a pattern: The client would park, sit in the car and send a text message, then one or two minutes before the appointment time, he would get out of the car and knock on the front door where he is invited in by a female.
- Officers said that on one occasion, two males crossed paths in the parking lot. “Both kinda jumped in surprise at the sight of each other and very quickly went their own ways.”
- Shortly before the raid, officers conducted surveillance at The Cheesecake Factory where they watched the front door and electronically monitored conversations between persons of interest.
- During the raids, forensic black lights were used at all of the locations, revealing a trail of bodily fluids from the massage table, across the floor leading to the laundry baskets and trash.
- While conducting surveillance, officers followed men from the By Spanish locations to locations such as Curves Cabaret and a Kentucky Fried Chicken.
- In at least two of the locations, officers noted that there was an area set up like a snack bar.
- During the raids in January, officers pulled over one of the vehicles listed on the search warrant as it was leaving the property. Officers noticed that the woman inside was driving erratically and was found to be eating a hamburger while driving.
