Seventeen people were arrested in a sting operation that targeted both prostitutes and their customers on the North Side, Tucson police said Thursday.
The Tucson Police Department's vice unit hit the streets Tuesday and Wednesday evening, resulting in the arrests of 11 women and six men, said Sgt. Jim Stoutmeyer.
On Tuesday, officers targeted prostitutes, he said. The operation began at 5 p.m. and ended around 10:30 p.m. on and around North Oracle Road.
Officers drove into the area in undercover cars and waited for a prostitute to make eye contact with them or gesture to them to pull over, Stoutmeyer said. The woman would walk over and the officer would allow her to initiate a deal, at which time she would be arrested.
The next night, officers targeted johns by placing an undercover female officer on the corner, he said. They then waited for men to approach her and negotiate a sexual act in exchange for anything of monetary value, which in one case was a $20 rock of cocaine.
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"These operations are important because we find that with a lot of prostitutes, they are supporting a drug habit, which leads to the neighborhood being run down," Stoutmeyer said. "We would like to eliminate the problem all together, but we haven't been able to so we are trying to stay ahead of it."
Charges include agreeing to commit prostitution and loitering to solicit prostitution. Some of the arrestees have a history of prostitution arrests.
Those arrested Tuesday were Crystal Ann Bowers, 26; Angela Nicole Coronado, 23; Cecelia Romero Garcia, 52; Rita Linda Kierce, 43; Angelica Maria Lopez, 19; Patricia Marie Niemier, 26; Leslie Franklin Robberson, 39; Kathleen Ann Scott, 50; Claurice Jean Smith, 22; Robbie Jean Stovall, 44; and Tiffany Kay Subia, 28.
The six men arrested Wednesday were Benjamin Daniel Gomez, 59; Jose Manuel Ico, 29; Jose Manuel Martinez, 52; Monty Pete Montana, 19; Ghobad Navabi, 56; and Jorge Fernando Valdez, 24.
