4 suspected prostitutes arrested

CENTRAL GLENDALE — Four women were arrested Wednesday after they reportedly tried to entice an undercover officer at a high-rise hotel with offers of sex acts in exchange for cash, police said.

Veronika Reyes, 21, Saccia Spencer, 20, Lovely Ruazol, 20, and Kendall Brock, 19, were taken into custody on suspicion of soliciting prostitution at the Hilton Glendale on 100 block of West Glenoaks Boulevard, Glendale Det. John Balian said.

Two of the four women were also reportedly in possession of marijuana, ecstasy and cannabis, he said.

The women had an ad on Craigslist, a classified advertising website, for sex services, he said.

They rented rooms at the hotel next to each other, but claimed that they didn’t know each other, Balian said. The women were all from the Bay Area, where, they said, there was too much competition, he said.

They told police that they were soliciting sex acts in the Valley, including Glendale and Burbank, because the sex business was booming in the area and they could earn more than the Bay Area, Det. Matt Prokosch said.

The women were struggling to make ends meet and couldn’t get jobs, so they told police that they began prostituting, Sgt. Scott Johnstone said.

They flew from the Bay Area to Glendale or Burbank for two days and earned thousands of dollars by prostituting themselves, Johnstone said.

Two of the women have children in the Bay Area and reportedly left them with parents to come to Glendale, he said.

They rented rooms at the Hilton because they told police it was safe, they got “upscale gentlemen” and got paid more, Johnstone said.

“They think they get better clientele,” he said.

The number of women and men arrested for soliciting sex acts has increased, which Johnstone said may be the result of the economic downturn.

“It’s all because of the economy and money,” he said.

Thirty-nine of the 107 arrests that the vice unit made last year were for solicitation of prostitution, he said.

So far this year, 15 prostitution arrests have been made, Johnstone said.