City employee charged in soliciting sting
Toledo police set up a prostitution sting in North Toledo yesterday, hoping to help clean up the neighborhood.
What they got was an on-duty city street sweeper who interrupted his morning cleaning route to allegedly proposition an undercover officer.
Matthew Pittman, 43, of Waterville Township, was charged with soliciting from a motor vehicle, a first-degree misdemeanor. He was booked and released from the Lucas County jail and is scheduled to appear tomorrow in Toledo Municipal Court.
He was suspended without pay by the city pending a disciplinary hearing.
Toledo Mayor Jack Ford said he was "personally embarrassed" by the news and "outraged" by Mr. Pittman?s conduct.
"This type of behavior will not stand," the mayor said. "It will not be tolerated ... "
Vice/narcotics officers conducted the sting in the area of Lagrange and Everett streets, where Mr. Pittman was arrested about noon. He was in the cab of his street sweeper working when he pulled to a curb at the intersection, stopped the sweeper, and started talking with the undercover detective. He allegedly told her he would pay her and her girlfriend $50 each for oral sex.
He agreed to meet the undercover officer and her purported girlfriend at the intersection at 4 p.m. - a half-hour after he would have finished work, police said.
"I?m embarrassed but I?m also surprised someone would be that bold," the mayor said.
The mayor said he hopes to finish the process "very quickly," perhaps within three weeks. If convicted, Mr. Pittman could face up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Mr. Pittman, who could not be reached for comment last night, was hired in June, 2002, and operates heavy equipment. He recently completed his one-year probationary period, said Megan Vahey, the mayor?s spokesman.
She said she believes Mr. Pittman, who is paid $28,296 a year, has a clean work history. He was convicted of misdemeanor assault in 1988, according to court records.
About two weeks ago, the mayor directed the city?s safety director and police chief to increase enforcement efforts to curb prostitution. The directive was issued after he and two councilmen attended a meeting in North Toledo, where neighbors asked for their community to be targeted.
Police Chief Mike Navarre said officers have made 37 prostitution-related arrests in the last two weeks. Twenty-two of them were in North Toledo.
Yesterday?s sting was the first prostitution sweep in the two weeks. Police conduct a handful of such sweeps and other prostitution stings through the year.
"Statistics for the year literally are in the hundreds," the chief said. "It?s a very troublesome type of crime that generates a lot of complaints from the neighbors. The activity is indicative of other problems in the neighborhood."
The mayor said police will continue to arrest prostitutes and those who solicit them.
Toledo police set up a prostitution sting in North Toledo yesterday, hoping to help clean up the neighborhood.
What they got was an on-duty city street sweeper who interrupted his morning cleaning route to allegedly proposition an undercover officer.
Matthew Pittman, 43, of Waterville Township, was charged with soliciting from a motor vehicle, a first-degree misdemeanor. He was booked and released from the Lucas County jail and is scheduled to appear tomorrow in Toledo Municipal Court.
He was suspended without pay by the city pending a disciplinary hearing.
Toledo Mayor Jack Ford said he was "personally embarrassed" by the news and "outraged" by Mr. Pittman?s conduct.
"This type of behavior will not stand," the mayor said. "It will not be tolerated ... "
Vice/narcotics officers conducted the sting in the area of Lagrange and Everett streets, where Mr. Pittman was arrested about noon. He was in the cab of his street sweeper working when he pulled to a curb at the intersection, stopped the sweeper, and started talking with the undercover detective. He allegedly told her he would pay her and her girlfriend $50 each for oral sex.
He agreed to meet the undercover officer and her purported girlfriend at the intersection at 4 p.m. - a half-hour after he would have finished work, police said.
"I?m embarrassed but I?m also surprised someone would be that bold," the mayor said.
The mayor said he hopes to finish the process "very quickly," perhaps within three weeks. If convicted, Mr. Pittman could face up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Mr. Pittman, who could not be reached for comment last night, was hired in June, 2002, and operates heavy equipment. He recently completed his one-year probationary period, said Megan Vahey, the mayor?s spokesman.
She said she believes Mr. Pittman, who is paid $28,296 a year, has a clean work history. He was convicted of misdemeanor assault in 1988, according to court records.
About two weeks ago, the mayor directed the city?s safety director and police chief to increase enforcement efforts to curb prostitution. The directive was issued after he and two councilmen attended a meeting in North Toledo, where neighbors asked for their community to be targeted.
Police Chief Mike Navarre said officers have made 37 prostitution-related arrests in the last two weeks. Twenty-two of them were in North Toledo.
Yesterday?s sting was the first prostitution sweep in the two weeks. Police conduct a handful of such sweeps and other prostitution stings through the year.
"Statistics for the year literally are in the hundreds," the chief said. "It?s a very troublesome type of crime that generates a lot of complaints from the neighbors. The activity is indicative of other problems in the neighborhood."
The mayor said police will continue to arrest prostitutes and those who solicit them.
