Police Stage Prostitution Bust In Hartford
September 7th, 2010Eyewitness News Reporter Jill Konopka Joins Police In Sting
HARTFORD, Conn. — Hartford police said they were hard at work on Thursday night targeting prostitutes who solicit sex over the Internet and in local newspapers.
The undercover sting, Operation Dial-A-Date, involved more than a dozen members of the Hartford Police Department’s Vice and Narcotics Division.
Officers set up two adjoining rooms in a Hartford hotel on Thursday night in advance of the operation.
The assignment — targeting prostitutes who sell sex on Craigslist and in newspapers like The Advocate.
”I’ll do an hour, absolutely,” said an undercover police over the phone in an attempt to make plans for sex. “Is that a picture of you? 100 percent you? It’s hot.”
The hotel room was equipped with hidden cameras, liquor and an undercover officer posing as a customer. The officer’s job was to set up appointments with potential prostitutes ready to play for pay.
The first taker wasn’t one, but two women who police said were working together.
While trying to set up an appointment over the phone, the undercover officer said, “Two is how much? You can’t do better than that? You’re not going to disappoint me are you?”
”If you’re coming to Hartford to engage in prostitution, we’re going to apprehend you,” said Lt. Charles Cochran. “It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but we do conduct these operations. We do try to put a stop to improve the quality of life.”
In the adjacent room, officers slipped on their vests and pulled out their handcuffs, waiting patiently.
Officers said they were working with high-tech recording devices capturing every move and every sound on tape.
Three officers were guarding both rooms, ready to make entry once it was made clear that sex would take place in exchange for money. But, an unexpected change in plans shook things up when one of the women thought something didn’t seem right. Police said she locked the door and left, leaving her friend behind.
Once the deal was set, police made their move and arrested the women.
Shaday Wortham, of Bloomfield, denied doing anything wrong before joining her friend, Isys Wylie, in handcuffs sitting in a cruiser headed for the police department.
Police said both women were charged with prostitution.
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