OFF THE WIRE
By Brian Nordli
It started with a hunch and a piece of cheesecake about one year ago.
A
Metro Police patrol officer assigned to downtown had just witnessed a
woman walking on Fremont Street between Las Vegas Boulevard and Eastern
Avenue, and a car driving slowly. He knew the area is a popular spot for
prostitution and narcotics, and his experience told him their actions
seemed suspicious.
He followed the vehicle, watched the woman
walk to the car door, then walk away minutes later. That’s when he
stopped the vehicle.
“Hi, Metro Police!”
“I am too,” said
the man in the car as he showed his badge revealing him to be Metro
Officer Peter Connell. “I’m trying to give away this cheesecake. I tried
to give it to that girl.”
His story checked out, but the woman
turned out to have an arrest warrant and a record of prostitution
arrests. Those were the details outlined in a Metro Police report
sparked by a three-month investigation into Connell. The investigation
uncovered Connell’s history of soliciting oral sex from a 58-year-old
woman, according to the report.
Connell, who worked the South
Central Area Command for the majority of his 18-year career, now faces
five counts of soliciting prostitution.
The 25-page report indicates the following:
Metro
Police vice detectives tracked Connell from Feb. 7 to April 1. In that
time, he made five trips to an apartment in the 5000 block of South
Maryland Parkway to meet 58-year-old Mary Ann Moore.
On a typical
trip, Connell would enter the apartment, and Moore would close the
blinds. He would then exit after a period of time, and Moore, who was
often spotted nude, would reopen the blinds.
The detectives
noticed it was a repeating pattern each time a man entered Moore’s
residence. On some days, up to seven men entered the apartment for
varying lengths of time.
The detectives investigated one of the
men, who explained that he was told the woman inside was a prostitute.
He claimed that she offered oral sex for $30.
When the detectives
questioned Moore, she admitted that she has about 50 customers who pay
her for sexual services. She initially denied knowing Connell, but then
later told detectives she met him in the fall of 2009.
She then
told detectives he has visited her several times, but they only talked
about religion and investing. Eventually she admitted that he often paid
her $10 to $40 for oral sex.
A summons then was issued for
Connell to appear in court on charges of soliciting prostitution. Moore
was not charged in the incident.
