Men arrested in prostitution sting

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BY LORI PILGER / Lincoln Journal Star

Lincoln police arrested four  men and cited a fifth after they allegedly propositioned an undercover officer posing as a prostitute this weekend.

Police Chief Tom Casady said the  sting came just hours after he and two police sergeants met with about 40 neighbors at the F Street Community Center to hear their concerns about prostitution, drugs and petty theft in the Everett and South Salt Creek neighborhoods.

Jeff Tangeman, who has lived in the Everett neighborhood for 21 years and is president of the neighborhood association, was pleased to hear about the arrests Saturday night and early Sunday.

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“But if men are coming to my neighborhood to solicit sex, it means word has gotten out that that’s where they can go,” he said.

Tangeman, who was at the meeting Saturday, said residents will keep trying to get the attention of police and residents who see suspicious behavior.

They haven’t reached a point where they want to take out a billboard listing names of alleged johns, Tangeman said, but they’re talking about what they can do to improve the neighborhood.

“We’re working on what we can work on,” he said. “It’s a start.”

Casady said the good news is police got some good results from a few hours of work Saturday.

“The bad news is that the prostitution was pretty wide open.”

Street-walking prostitutes have become more apparent in the area between D to F streets and 10th to 13th in the past five years, Casady said. A known prostitute even called out to him as he left the meeting about 12:30 p.m. with his car window down.

“That’s what we don’t want to take root here in our city,” he said.

At the meeting, Casady said he and Sgts. Tim Kennett and Mike Bassett got “something of an earful” about the problem of men cruising through the neighborhood, apparently looking for prostitutes.

That night, Bassett headed the undercover detail that started about 10 p.m. in the area of D to F between 11th and 13th.

Within 3½ hours, police arrested for pandering 42-year-old Ezell Miles, a transient; 37-year-old Jose Avalos of 252 Butler Ave.; 44-year-old Ramo Poparic of 1247 C St., Apt. BF; and 44-year-old David Krassig of 1129 E St., Apt. 3. Police also cited for pandering a fifth man, 34-year-old Loc Nguyen, of 735 S. 21st St.

Less than three months into the year, police already have made 11 arrests connected to prostitution, whether of prostitutes or those seeking their services — compared to 13 for all of 2005.

Casady said the five arrested allegedly had offered a combined total of $80 for sex acts, which shows the desperation of the prostitutes, many of whom are looking for a few bucks to buy drugs and get high.

Lincoln’s prostitutes addicted to methamphetamine, Casady said,  which he described as the root of the problem.

“Believe me, nobody that looks  anything like Julia Roberts is on the street as a prostitute,” he said.

Two people approached the undercover officer looking to buy drugs, Casady said. Two others offered to be her manager and two prostitutes came up to her, too, one offering advice and the other angry she was in her territory, he said.

The sting also led to the unrelated arrest of two teen boys who officers on surveillance spotted running out of a building with purses. Police stopped the 16- and 15-year-olds, who allegedly had stolen the purses from a  party at 1120 D St.

As for prostitution, Casady said police want to try to keep it from gaining a firmer foothold in Lincoln so it doesn’t become a problem like it is in Omaha, where there were more than 1,800 arrests for it in 2005.

“We’ve been working very hard in this neighborhood to try to turn this around and we’re going to continue to do so,” he said.

Reach Lori Pilger at 473-7237 or lpilger@journalstar.com.