SURFSIDE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - A citizen's call reporting suspicious activity near the Surfside Beach Pier led police to arrest five people involved in prostitution.
That call came in to police around 2 a.m.Thursday morning, and when officers arrived to investigate, they discovered what appeared to be "call girl" escort service prostitution.
After conducting a brief surveillance operation, police charged two individuals, 22-year-old Kristine Marie Reynolds of Myrtle Beach and 37-year-old Christopher Mays of Ohio, and charged them with prostitution.
Tugging on that string unraveled a larger operation, leading to charges against 30-year-old Jamie Lynn Goins of Conway and 37-year-old Stephanie Rene Leonard of Garden City for prostitution.
Officers discovered Leonard was also wanted for a burglary in Ohio, and charged her with fugitive from justice,
That's when police discovered 28-year-old Jesse Alan Hash, wanted for multiple drug charges in Florida.
One more arrest is still pending, because during the investigation police discovered 41-year-old James Goodenow was violating an order of protection. He is considered wanted by Myrtle Beach Police.
SBPD Chief of Police Mike Frederick described the arrests and investigation as "a great example of out intelligence-led policing strategies, which rely upon heavily trained patrol officers, capable of performing tasks normally associated with investigators or other specialists."
Frederick also said two of the suspects were charged during an undercover anti-prostitution investigation Surfside Beach Police conducted three months ago.
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