Record 9/21: Prostitution Suspects Caught After Window Leap

As reported in today's Record, three employees of a Queen Anne Road "massage parlor" were arrested, including two who ere caught after jumping out a window to evade police. All were charged with prostitution-related offenses. See today's Record or click on http://tinyurl.com/abzno for the article at the Record's http://www.Bergen.com web site (registration required).

Prostitution suspects caught after window leap Wednesday, September 21, 2005

TEANECK - Two massage therapists who allegedly doubled as prostitutes leapt from a second-story window during a police raid but were caught soon afterward, authorities said Tuesday.

Police had pulled up Monday afternoon to a split-level home in a commercial section of Queen Anne Road when the two women kicked out a window screen and dived 10 feet, said Lt. Dean Kazinci. The women, as well as an office manager, were apprehended shortly afterward.

Kazinci said police raided the home - which went by the name Herb Center - after two undercover investigators were solicited there on separate occasions.

"We kind of stumbled onto this one," Kazinci said.

Investigators had been referred to the home after calling a phone number listing in a classified newspaper advertisement for another massage parlor, he explained.

A meeting was arranged, and the undercover officers were met by an office manager, who charged $60 for a massage, Kazinci said. The detectives were then escorted to a room where the masseuses allegedly offered them sex for $40 to $100, he said.

The same house had been raided in 1997. In that case, Elsy G. Lazo - who later pleaded guilty to promoting prostitution - also jumped out of the second-story window.

"This was one of those cases where it was deja vu," Kazinci said.

The alleged jumpers, Irma Tapia, 25, and Chui Wong, 23, both of New York City, were charged with prostitution. The office manager, 23-year-old Tendri Angka of Queens, was charged with promoting prostitution.

Angka and Tapia were released on their own recognizance. Because Wong's name could not be verified, she was being held on $1,000 bail Monday at the Bergen County Jail.

- Carolyn Salazar Copyright © 2005 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

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