HAVERHILL — Every two or three months, police run a prostitution sting to catch men trying to pay for sex.
The idea, investigators said, is to repeatedly send out the message to out-of-town johns who come to Haverhill that they run the risk of public embarrassment and criminal penalties.
But police said they sometimes net a different kind of offender. So it was over the weekend, when officers caught a man who was illegally keeping a loaded pistol in his car, police said.
The man sped away from the location of the sting and nearly caused a crash, police said. Officers said they eventually caught up with him and found the gun, and he told them he had it because he is a former police officer.
"We've made a couple of big drug arrests this year,'' police spokesman Sgt. John Arahovites said of what has happened during the stings. "In this case it was a gun. And although it was his gun, it was good to get it off the street."
Arahovites said the Police Department's street crimes unit, or what he referred to as the X-ray team, set up a prostitution sting in the area of Vine, White and Winter streets on Friday night. The area is just north of downtown and is known throughout Greater Haverhill as a place where sex is available for a fee.
Usually a female undercover officer dressed in plain clothes will be in view of drivers passing by, some of whom will stop and offer her money for sex.
Police said Friday's sting resulted in the arrest of three men, including Ludwin Zurita, 40, 9 Belmont St., Salem, and Eugene Borrelli, 60, 4 Angel Ave. Both were charged with sex for a fee. They were arraigned on the charges yesterday in Haverhill District Court and each was fined $400 then released, according to court officials.
Police said a third man, Joseph Leneski, 64, 1513 Broadway, propositioned a female officer and when members of the street crimes unit tried to arrest him he sped away, almost causing a crash. Police said they caught up with Leneski at the intersection of Kenoza Avenue and Lawrence Street.
Arahovites said that before his car was towed away, officers conducted a routine inventory of his vehicle, which turned up a Walther 9 mm pistol with seven rounds in its magazine.
Leneski told police that years ago he was a police officer in West Newbury, and that's why he had the gun.
Arahovites said Leneski had no firearms ID because of a felony conviction, but did not provide any details.
"He tried to get away and he was placed under arrest," Arahovites said.
Leneski was arraigned in Haverhill District Court yesterday on charges of sex for a fee, failure to stop for police, and carrying a firearm without an ID card. Leneski was released on $1,000 cash bail, which was posted, according to court officials. He is scheduled for a pretrial hearing on Sept. 15.
Arahovites said the street crimes unit is a group of officers, who, during their normal working shifts, are often brought together to target a specific problem such as alcohol violations, cars with expired registrations, teens partying in the woods, prostitution, and other issues that might crop up in a particular area of the city.
He said they have made an impact this year on prostitution, which is decreasing. He said each sting results in fewer arrests and that the men who want to come to Haverhill to purchase sex are getting the word that they will be arrested if caught.
"We're just trying to keep on top of things," Arahovites said. "You may not eradicate (prostitution) entirely, but we tend to make it unpleasant for people who want to ply their trade and for the johns who get arrested. In some cases we've towed their cars."
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