Glendale police arrest six in series of local prostitution stings
Police busted five suspected prostitutes and a pimp in a series of vice stings this week on the heels — coincidentally — of the beating and robbery of a self-described prostitute at a Glendale motel, police said.
Undercover detectives initiated the undercover operations at two hotels and a motel after finding solicitation advertisements online, according to Glendale Police Sgt. Robert William.
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At the Glen Capri Inn & Suites Thursday, 18-year-old Sitzi Sanchez was cited on suspicion of prostitution after offering to perform sexual acts in exchange for money, William said. A suspected pimp, identified as Luis Roberto Perez, was also arrested after police tied him to the room during surveillance.
Two others, Stockton resident Alyssa Trent, 19, and Sacramento resident Shkoyia Lomack, 23, were also cited in operations conducted at the Vagabond Inn and the Hilton Los Angeles North/Glendale hotel, respectively.
Meanwhile, police cited two Monterey Park women — Juan Gu, 47, and Yao Quing Li, 53 — on suspicion of prostitution during two similar operations conducted at two massage parlors, Number One Smile Massage and Sunshine Massage.
“We are amping up our enforcement efforts and have zero tolerance for this,” William said, noting that one of the women told police she was visiting the Los Angeles area because it’s a more lucrative market than Northern California. “We are hoping these types of operations have some type of residual effects to the underlying problems in the underground world of prostitution, pimping and human trafficking.”
Though unrelated, the operations came on the heels of another incident involving a self-described prostitute who was choked, beaten and robbed after arranging a meeting online.
Two Fountain Valley residents — Paige Lark, 24, and Jasper Johnson, 30 — were both charged with one count each of attempted murder, making criminal threats and first-degree residential robbery. Lark was also charged with two counts of battery upon a custodial officer, while Johnson was charged with one count of resisting an executive officer.
Lark pleaded not guilty on Friday to the charges, while Johnson’s arraignment was continued to next week.
According to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, Lark was out of custody for an unrelated crime, while Johnson has previous convictions for carrying a loaded firearm with a prior conviction, receiving stolen property, battery by gassing while in a San Bernardino prison and carjacking.
They were slated to appear in court Friday.
If convicted, both suspects face life in state prison.
