Police are targeting prostitutes and pimps who operate out of hotels near Philadelphia International Airport, saying the activity leads to robberies and other crimes. On Thursday, police announced the arrests of six alleged prostitutes and three men accused of working with them.
All were charged with prostitution and criminal solicitation. The arrests were made in the same hotel, which police declined to identify, but Philadelphia Capt. Daniel MacDonald said several other airport hotels had reported similar problems. Posing as johns, police officers called phone numbers advertising escort services on Craigslist and other websites and met with the alleged prostitutes. Police are looking at ways to target johns as the investigation continues, and they will conduct stings in other areas of the city.
Charles Green, commander of the Vice Squad. On one day, police counted 38 women on three websites who advertised escort services near the airport, MacDonald said. Get the news you need to start your day. In recent months, there have been several robberies and one fatal shooting connected to the activity at the hotels, Green said. Because most prostitution-related robberies are not reported, police said, it is safe to assume that more such crimes were happening.
In one recent robbery, a woman got a client into what Green called a "compromising position," then knocked on the door to signal her male companion. The two then robbed the man at knifepoint, police said. According to police, a prostitute and her boyfriend deemed Kalif Lewis, 26, of North Philadelphia, such a mark in December when Lewis met with the woman at the Residence Inn at Marriott on Island Avenue.
When Lewis left, police said, he realized he was missing money and returned with a gun. The woman's boyfriend, Tyre West, 28, intervened and was fatally shot in the abdomen, authorities said. Lewis was later arrested. Arrested in the recent sting were Jennifer Henderson, 28, of Bridgeton, N.
