Teh One Who Knocks
04-21-2011, 04:55 PM
By Harry Harris and Kristin J. Bender - Oakland Tribune
OAKLAND -- The 1-month-old twins of a prostitution suspect were taken into protective custody Wednesday afternoon after their mother was arrested on suspicion of soliciting an undercover officer, police said.
Oakland police Sgt. Roland Holmgren, who was in charge of the police operation, said, "I've never seen anything like this before. Even for the toughest cop, this would touch a place in (their) heart."
The name of the 25-year-old Stockton woman was not immediately released.
She was arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment and suspicion of soliciting an act of prostitution.
The woman was arrested about 4 p.m. Wednesday during a police operation targeting prostitution and human trafficking. Officers saw the woman loitering in the 1500 block of 16th Avenue and once saw her go check on something inside a "ratty and dirty" Oldsmobile parked nearby. Police said the car's tinted windows were rolled up, making it impossible for people to see inside.
When the woman returned to her place on the street, an undercover police officer contacted her and within a few minutes she agreed to do a sex act for money, police said.
She got into his car and the two drove away. Other officers stopped them in a nearby fast-food restaurant parking lot and the woman was arrested. It was then that she told police that her 1-month-old twins, a boy and a girl, were in the car a few blocks away. When police arrived back at the
car, they found the babies asleep in infant seats and unharmed, Holmgren said. One front window was cracked slightly for air flow. Police fed the babies and then took them to Children's Hospital Oakland, for checkups before they were turned over to Alameda County Child Protective Services.
"We are glad we were able to intervene before something horrible happened to those children," he said.
Holmgren said the woman "showed no remorse at all." She told police she needed money to get back home to Stockton and asked, "What else am I supposed to do?' " Holmgren said. The woman also has three other children, ages 3, 4 and 5, police said.
The area where police also arrested six other women on solicitation Wednesday is a known prostitution hot spot and is within the area that was closed down during a anti-pimping and anti-prostitution rally last month.
OAKLAND -- The 1-month-old twins of a prostitution suspect were taken into protective custody Wednesday afternoon after their mother was arrested on suspicion of soliciting an undercover officer, police said.
Oakland police Sgt. Roland Holmgren, who was in charge of the police operation, said, "I've never seen anything like this before. Even for the toughest cop, this would touch a place in (their) heart."
The name of the 25-year-old Stockton woman was not immediately released.
She was arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment and suspicion of soliciting an act of prostitution.
The woman was arrested about 4 p.m. Wednesday during a police operation targeting prostitution and human trafficking. Officers saw the woman loitering in the 1500 block of 16th Avenue and once saw her go check on something inside a "ratty and dirty" Oldsmobile parked nearby. Police said the car's tinted windows were rolled up, making it impossible for people to see inside.
When the woman returned to her place on the street, an undercover police officer contacted her and within a few minutes she agreed to do a sex act for money, police said.
She got into his car and the two drove away. Other officers stopped them in a nearby fast-food restaurant parking lot and the woman was arrested. It was then that she told police that her 1-month-old twins, a boy and a girl, were in the car a few blocks away. When police arrived back at the
car, they found the babies asleep in infant seats and unharmed, Holmgren said. One front window was cracked slightly for air flow. Police fed the babies and then took them to Children's Hospital Oakland, for checkups before they were turned over to Alameda County Child Protective Services.
"We are glad we were able to intervene before something horrible happened to those children," he said.
Holmgren said the woman "showed no remorse at all." She told police she needed money to get back home to Stockton and asked, "What else am I supposed to do?' " Holmgren said. The woman also has three other children, ages 3, 4 and 5, police said.
The area where police also arrested six other women on solicitation Wednesday is a known prostitution hot spot and is within the area that was closed down during a anti-pimping and anti-prostitution rally last month.