64 Arrested in Prostitution Sting

SAN ANTONIO: Dozens of people who thought they were paying a prostitute for sex ended up in handcuffs as part of an undercover sting on the West Side.

Sixty-two men and two women were arrested over a nine-hour period last Friday during an undercover prostitution sting called "Operation Polar Bexar".

Erich Krist lives in the Westside neighborhood where the sting took place. He says prostitution is a big problem around here.

"There's a lot of it around,” said Krist. “I mean, you could drive down the street, and I could probably point you out six of them."

"No longer are they confined to one area, but they operate in all areas of this town," said Bexar County Sheriff Amadeo Ortiz.

We've followed law enforcement in the past as they've hit the streets and gone after prostitutes. But with "Operation Polar Bexar" -- a joint effort led by the sheriff's office -- their target was on the men who pay for these services.

The sheriff's office had three female detectives posing as prostitutes in front of the Garden Inn Motel at Travis and Zarzamora. Investigators say once the men came up to them and a deal was made, the "John" would accompany the undercover officer up to a motel room.

Once in the room, the men were arrested and processed right on the spot.

"You could see them taking them from one room to the other,” said Krist. “I mean, like, people have no common sense."

Investigators say it soon became clear the demand for prostitutes in this area is overwhelming.

"They walked up to our undercover officers posing as prostitutes,” said Captain Tammy Burr of the Bexar County Sheriff's Office. “They arrived in their personal vehicles, and in company vehicles."

By night's end, sixty-four people had been arrested.

"64 in one night certainly indicates that we have a problem, and that's why we did it," said Ortiz.

"We have to find a way to reduce demand,” said Jerry Robinette of Homeland Security Investigations. “And one way to reduce demand is to show folks that there are consequences for being a party to prostitution."

Of those arrested, the oldest was fifty-eight years old and the youngest was seventeen. The sheriff's office says eighteen of the men were illegal immigrants.

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