COSTA MESA : 15 Women, 6 Men Held for Soliciting

Costa Mesa police arrested 15 women and six men and booked them on suspicion of soliciting prostitution after a seven-hour stakeout of a two-mile strip of Harbor Boulevard, authorities said.

Sgt. Jerry Holloway said 19 of those arrested were released on their own recognizance. Police detained two women for whom warrants had been issued after they failed to show up in court to answer previous prostitution charges, he said.

Holloway said the operation began around 8 p.m. Wednesday when officers from the department’s vice detail arrested six suspects who stood on street corners between Gisler Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard.

Officers later arrested 15 men who allegedly made offers to two undercover female officers, Holloway said.

“We have received lots of complaints about the prostitution problem along North Harbor,” Holloway said. “So this is just another effort to get rid of it.”

The clothes of the four women who were released were seized as evidence, Holloway said. The women left the Costa Mesa police station wearing white jumpsuits issued by the police.