Home » Santa Clarita News » Sheriff News » Santa Clarita Deputies Team Up For Prostitution Sting In Castaic

Santa Clarita Deputies Team Up For Prostitution Sting In Castaic

Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies teamed up with deputies from the Vice Unit of Major Crimes Bureau in a 12-hour “john sting” in Castaic on Friday.


Don’t miss a thing. Get breaking Santa Clarita news alerts delivered right to your inbox.


The operation resulted in three arrests, Sheriff’s Station officials said.

Tony Wayne Alvarez and Ricardo Jimenez Meza, both of Bakersfield, whose occupations were listed as oil riggers, were booked at 4:30 p.m. Friday afternoon, according to Sheriff’s Department arrest records.Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station deputies made arrests in sting

Leonid M Kinchak, a truck driver from Agawam, Mass., was arrested two hours later for the same charge, soliciting prostitution, a misdemeanor.

The operation resulted from residents’ reports of illegal activities that affect the quality of life for local residents, according to a Sheriff’s Station statement.

Friday’s operation utilized female deputies in an undercover capacity to pose as prostitutes, and male deputies in an undercover capacity posing as “johns,” or men soliciting prostitutes.

The mission was to arrest and identify suspects for various prostitution violations.  Another aspect of the mission was an attempt to identify any victims of human trafficking who have been forced into prostitution.  

The locations also were chosen due to the area’s close proximity of the Interstate 5 freeway, which is an artery of travel for both legal and illegal activities, such as narcotics and human trafficking and smuggling throughout the state, according to officials.

Sometimes the crimes are committed by traveling through the area, and other times, by persons who are attracted by the crime potential of the major trucking  operations and the transitory nature of trucking, sheriff’s officials said.


Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or drop us a line at community@hometownstation.com.


[node:title]


Article: [node:title]
Source: Santa Clarita News
Author: [node:author]


Santa Clarita Deputies Team Up For Prostitution Sting In Castaic

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Perry Smith

Perry Smith is a print and broadcast journalist who has won several awards for his focused, hyperlocal community coverage in several different regions of the country. In addition to five years of experience covering the Santa Clarita Valley, Smith, a San Fernando Valley native, has worked in newspapers and news websites in Los Angeles, the Northwest, the Central Valley and the South, before coming to KHTS in 2012. To contact Smith, email him at Perry@hometownstation.com.