When a man walked up to a Kent hotel room expecting to meet the female escort he had been texting, he knocked and received a surprised greeting.
“Police, you’re under arrest,” is what the man heard when the door opened at about 3:12 p.m. April 9 at the Crosslands Studios, 25104 Pacific Highway S., according to the Kent Police report.
Officers arrested the man for investigation of patronizing a prostitute, one of about seven arrests of men during an undercover sting that afternoon and evening.
The Special Investigations Unit placed an advertisement on backpage.com in an effort to apprehend men who patronize prostitutes in Kent.
Officers placed the ad on April 9 with a female name, a phone number and four photos of an unknown woman from a website ad in another state. The ad cost $12.
The ad described the woman as 20-years-old and included a brief description to attract customers, including “I’m a single man’s best friend and a married man’s best kept secret.”
Police set up a decoy room at the hotel. The man texted the phone number in the ad and exchanged messages with an undercover officer. The man reportedly agreed to pay $40 for 15 minutes of sex with the woman, who directed the man to her hotel room.
Officers watched a man drive into the parking lot, come up to the room and knock on the door. After arresting the man, they called the number on the undercover policewoman’s phone and watched the man’s cellphone light up.
Obstruction
Police arrested a man for investigation of obstructing an officer after he escaped out of an upstairs bathroom window of a house in the 4200 block of Carnaby Street at about 3:55 p.m. April 7.
Officers responded to a call from a relative that a man with several warrants was at the house, according to the police report.
Relatives gave permission to officers to enter the home. The man had locked himself inside an upstairs bathroom and refused orders from police to come out unless they promised to not take him to jail. After a few minutes and no further response, an officer kicked in the bathroom door and saw an open window and the man scurrying down the side of the home.
Police chased the man on foot through the backyard and over a fence before the man stopped running near the Totem Middle School fields. Officers caught up to the man and ordered him to the ground. The man told officers he ran because he was scared.
The man had warrants for disorderly conduct in Kirkland, theft in Federal Way and driving under the influence from the King County Sheriff’s Office.
Officers filed a property damage report for the broken bathroom door as required by Kent Police policy.
Illegal weapon
Officers arrested a man for investigation of illegal possession of a firearm after stopping his vehicle at about 2:30 a.m. April 8 in the 25200 block of Pacific Highway South.
Officers were on foot patrol at the Crossland Studios watching vehicle and foot traffic because it’s a highly trafficked area for stolen cars, drug dealing and prostitution, according to the police report.
Police watched a black Audi come into the parking lot. A passenger jumped out and returned to the car a short time later. Officers eventually approached the car and noticed the driver seemed extremely nervous when talking to him.
When officers asked the driver if he had any weapons in the car, he responded that he did. Police found a 40-mm pistol in front of the passenger seat. The man was booked for carrying a concealed weapon without a license. The man also had been prohibited by Kent Municipal Court from possessing a firearm because he had violated a protection order.
Malicious mischief
Police arrested a man for investigation of third-degree malicious mischief after he allegedly punched holes in the walls and doors of a home in the 11800 block of Southeast 254th Street.
Six officers responded to a call at about 1:51 a.m. April 6 of a man throwing and breaking items at the house, according to the police report.
The man’s mother had called to report her son going crazy and being out of control. He also had been drinking. Police had responded to the same house earlier in the night for a report of two brothers fighting, but the other brother had left when officers arrived.
Police returned to the home and found holes punched in walls as well as a broken family picture, alarm clock and laptop. The man, who had bloody knuckles, claimed his brother caused all of the damage and had set him up to be caught by police.
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