Prostitute Allegedly Carjacks John in West Palm Beach Case
ABC News reports that a woman who identifies herself as a prostitute was arrested after allegedly carjacking a man and leading police on a chase in West Palm Beach.
Prostitution in West Palm Beach is the oldest profession known to man and while law enforcement tries to get a handle on it, it will continue in one form or another. And that goes for the people who attempt to purchase the services of a prostitute as well.
Police officers are constantly putting together sting operations where female officers dress as prostitutes to try to arrest people who may be seeking. But there are situations during these sting operations where officers can entrap a suspect, leading to an unlawful arrest.
Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyers should be called in to defend a person who was enticed by police into asking for prostitute services. Entrapment is rare, but it does happen. It means luring someone into committing a crime they normally wouldn’t commit. Regardless, a charge of prostitution or solicitation should be properly defended.
In these sting operations, an example would be if a person pulled up to an undercover officer in a car and began talking with them about how much it would cost, but they don’t ask the “prostitute” to get into their vehicle, but the officer persists and convinces them to pick them up.
In a situation like this, the person may be having second thoughts, but the officer convinces the “John” to go through with the deal, leading to an arrest. While officers should be trained to avoid such behavior, there have been instances where this happens.
According to the news story, the woman, who claims she is a prostitute, said she was picked up by a man near 10th Avenue North and Dixie Highway one weekday night. As they were sitting in the vehicle, she allegedly decided she didn’t want to have sex with the man and when he got out of his vehicle, she jumped into the driver’s seat and drove off.
As police pursued her, she allegedly hit several vehicles en route to Interstate 95. She eventually ditched the car and ran away before she was chased down by police and arrested. She now faces charges of carjacking and fleeing from police and was being held on $50,000 bond.
The man says that he borrowed his friend’s car and was sending a money order when a woman and a man pulled him out of his car, hit him and took the car, driving over his foot. There’s no word on the other mystery man.
This is an interesting case because there are two completely different stories of how this came to be. In the one situation, the woman allegedly admits to taking the vehicle, but the man, likely fearing people would judge him for picking up a prostitute, says he was pulled from the vehicle by two people.
If you are arrested in West Palm Beach or elsewhere in South Florida, contact Leifert & Leifert at 954-523-9600 or 561-988-8000 for a free consultation.
More Blog Entries:
Police Crack Down on Fort Lauderdale Prostitution: August 30, 2011
