Prostitution Sting Leads to 36 Arrests

Apolice sting on Sepulveda Boulevard resulted in the arrests of 34 men and two women on suspicion of prostitution-related offenses, the Los Angeles Police Department reported Monday.

Undercover policewomen walked along on the boulevard near Rayen Street in Sepulveda for about seven hours Friday night, and arrested men who solicited them for sex, Sgt. Frank Reynoso said. Male officers arrested two women for prostitution and lewd conduct, Reynoso said.

Police set up the sting in response to residents’ complaints that men driving along the boulevard were harassing neighborhood women, mistaking them for prostitutes, Reynoso said.

“It’s getting to be the warmer months, so the streetwalkers are going to be more visible out there,” Reynoso said.

Police made similar arrests of men looking for prostitutes last year on the boulevard, but Friday’s sting was the first this year, the sergeant said.