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发帖数: 1883 | 1 http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_20316082/18-men-arrested-suspe
Police have arrested 18 men suspected of engaging in sexual activity inside
a Manhattan Beach restroom that became a popular meeting spot in recent
weeks, officers said Tuesday.
The crackdown possibly put an end to lewd conduct inside the Marine Avenue
restroom at the beach, where lifeguards noticed men going inside and staying
for extended periods of time.
Among those arrested was the director of security for a major media company.
"It just started up probably the last week in February," Manhattan Beach
police Officer Stephanie Martin said. "(Lifeguards) started noticing some
questionable conduct."
Men sometimes stayed in the restroom for longer than an hour, and the same
people would return. Lifeguards also found graffiti of graphic sexual images
on restroom walls, and holes drilled through stall partitions, Martin said.
Lifeguards told police that instead of seeing one pair of feet in a stall, "
sometimes they would see two or three."
"MBPD learned the public restroom was being used as a meeting place for
sexual activity," Martin said. "Undercover detectives conducted a visual
inspection of the restroom and set up surveillance of the location. Within
minutes of their arrival, they made their first arrest."
Police checked Internet sites and chat rooms, where they found discussions
indicating the restroom had become a meeting spot for men to engage in sex,
Martin said.
Officers soon conducted six undercover
operations, posing as men seeking activity. Police made 17 more arrests.
The suspects were held on suspicion of offenses such as soliciting or
engaging in lewd conduct in a public place, loitering in and around a public
toilet for the purpose of engaging or soliciting a lewd or unlawful act,
utilizing a restroom peephole, invasion of privacy, resisting arrest and
indecent exposure.
Police released their booking mugs and names to the media. Two men told the
Daily Breeze their arrests were mistakes.
Police identified the men as: Gregory L. Barnett, 29, of Los Angeles;
Terrill Bazile, 44, of Los Angeles; Isauro Benavides Jr., 41, of Santa
Monica; Charles S. Couch, 20, of Hawthorne; Celyn F. Cruz, 34, of Lawndale;
Jacob A. Dotson, 33, of Manhattan Beach; Thomas Droeszler, 40, of Los
Angeles; Carl D. Edwards, 52, of Los Angeles; Mario A. Flores, 41, of Lomita
; William R. Jackson, 49, of East Sussex, England; Giovanni Mendez, 32, of
Gardena; Brad M. Onomura, 44, of Torrance; Claudio X. Pinto, 48, of Hermosa
Beach; Tod R. Rathbun, 46, of Redondo Beach; Richard K. Reynolds, 48, of El
Segundo; Glen B. Sears, 59, of Los Angeles; Jeremy K. Tamanaha, 30, of Los
Angeles; and Joseph F. Williams, 38, of Torrance.
According to online searches, their jobs included a counselor at Harbor
Regional Center in Torrance and a stagehand.
"I was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Pinto said. "I have hired a
lawyer. I was definitely innocent. ... You have completely ruined my life."
Benavides is the director of security and investigations for Viacom and
formerly worked as director of safety and security for the Metropolitan
Government of Nashville-Davidson County in Tennessee and director of safety/
security and chief warrant officer for Metro Nashville's Juvenile Justice
Center.
Benavides declined to comment.
Lifeguards told police the operations appeared to be successful. No
suspicious activity was discovered over the weekend, Martin said.
In addition, authorities removed the doors on the stalls to prevent sexual
activity, Martin said.
"Undercover operations in public restrooms will be periodically conducted
and those who participate in illegal activity will be arrested," Manhattan
Beach Police Chief Eve Irvine said in a statement. | m****s
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