One of the problems we have faced in Seminole Heights is prostitution, especially along Nebraska Avenue. This series of posts will explain the problem and how we dealt with it.
I collected stories from neighbors to give a better sense of what it is like to live with street level prostitution.
1. "I have always known that Nebraska Ave. had this reputation. Want a prostitute? Head to Nebraska Ave. The first time it really angered me was when a girl was negotiating with her john on the street leading to my daughter’s elementary school. I was driving down Hamilton Ave from Nebraska toward Cleveland Elementary School when I saw a car blocking the road in front of me just half a block from the school. This is at 7:15 a.m. mind you, I stopped and waited thinking the driver would pull forward. Then I noticed the girl leaning into the car and talking with the driver. She was obviously a prostitute, do not ask me how I know, you live here long enough and you just know. I waited then tapped the horn, the girl looks up flips the middle finger at me and continues on with her negotiations. I then witness the john reach out and begin to fondle her from inside the car. Alright, that’s enough, I lean on the horn and stay on the horn for about thirty seconds until he finally decides to move on. As I drive by where the girl is standing, she tries to reach over and strike the hood of my car with her fist. Needless to say, myself and my daughter were a bit shaken up by this. Let me remind you, this was at 7:15 a.m. one half block from Cleveland Elementary school." - K. K.
2. "One day, J. and I were driving west along Hillsborough and turned south on 12th Street (I'd say it was around 6:00pm or so). We had our neighbor's kids in the backseat with us. One was fifteen years old and the other was seven...both girls. As we turned onto 12th we saw a woman (a real woman) walking and she turned to look at the car. The fifteen-year-old says "She's out hookin' early, that hoochie". Then the seven-year-old pipes up and says, "That's not a hoochie". I asked her why she said that and she replied (with all seriousness), "Because hookers don't wear pants. They wear short skirts with no underwear". I asked her how she knew about hookers and "hoochies" and she basically said, "Duh, I grew up here and I've seen them all my life". " - E.S.
3. "Not knowing who was exiting the street because we weren't close enough yet or there was a glare, a prostitute turned around and lifted her skirt to show her naked butt. Besides me in the car was my 13-year-old stepson and 3 year old daughter. " - G.T.
4. "We used to park our pickup truck in our side yard. It was used periodically for trips to the dump or taking the dogs for a ride, and in it we've found underwear, syringes, and condoms" - G.T.
5. "There was another incident when a hooker banged on the P's door in the middle of the night after being chased by a john. Seems she tried to grab and his money and run from the car and he chased and beat her up. Mind you this took place in the middle of the neighborhood. The hooker was running around the streets yelling and pounding on doors. D. said she had a bloody nose and looked awful. Obviously they wouldn't let her in the house and told her to get off of their porch. They called the police and the hooker got mad at them and said she would be back to beat their asses. Of course, all of the commotion woke up their little girl who was pretty young at the time and freaked her out. She was afraid for weeks and would ask Mom and Dad every night if that lady was coming back to yell at them." - E.S.
6. "My 22-year-old daughter was walking 3 blocks to her friend's house. My daughter had on jeans and a t-shirt. A man stepped up to her and asked her how much? She stated that she didn't do that and he needed to go away. He said he didn't care what it cost, he'd go get his money and be right back. She went to her girlfriend's house and never saw him again. Fortunately for her she is 5'10" and stocky and he was 5'6"and skinny. She figured she could deck him if he got aggressive." - S.L.
7. "I was sitting in my car across the street from the El Rancho Motel at Flora and Nebraska one afternoon when I saw a girl come out of one of the rooms there and walk to the corner of the street. She began walking up and down the street in front of the hotel and trying to make contact with people as they drove by. She would occasionally go back to the room for a few minutes where she was met at the door by a man and let in. The man looked familiar to me then I realized that he was the “custodian” at the motel. I saw him cleaning the rooms out there on many occasions. During the rest of the afternoon I found that there were at least two girls using the room and with the same man there. The girls would get picked up and come back a half our later, go to the room for a few minutes and then be back out on the street. By the way, the owner of the motel was witness to these incidents, he was usually outside sitting on a chair in front of the motel." - K. K.
8. "Concerned for my older neighbor, I looked out after hearing a noise and saw the legs of a prostitute hanging out a car door. After I flicked the light, she shut the door and her big butt was up against the window as they passed by. The police responded three days later and ended up saying "I wouldn't live in this neighborhood. I live in Valrico". (Another huge issue of mine that law enforcement would be passionate about their work if they patrolled in a community they lived in or lived nearby) " - G.T.
9. I went to take the trash out one evening and as I walked around my garage, which is next to an abandoned alley, I saw a car was parked just inside the alley from the street. I kept an eye on the car as I put my trash away and as I walked back towards my house I looked back one more time and saw a man’s face in the window of the car. When I did not recognize him, I walked over to where the car was parked. The alley directly abuts my property line, so he was not even five feet from my garage, and when I got closer I saw a head bobbing up and down in his lap. Not caring to get any nearer I grabbed a crowbar from inside my garage and went around the back of the garage and walked toward the front of the car with it in my hand. His windows were down and as I approached the car I was politely (not really) asking the man to leave the area. I made sure to stay to the side of the alley and when he saw me he went tearing by me down the alley. I reported the incident and went to bed thinking he would never be back. The next morning when I went to drive my daughter to school I found his (Presumably) used condom draped across my drivers’ side rearview mirror."
10. "I had a prostitute drive her car straight at my car on one of our early nights a couple of years ago. This is when we were trying to push the boundary of our patrol past the Swan/Casa Loma/Loma Linda Hotel group at Lambright and Nebraska. Two prostitutes suddenly cornered three of our hooker patrol cars in the John Calvin Presbyterian parking lot, blocking the exits with their bodies. They had sticks and rocks and were slowly approaching us with the clear intent to do harm. It was crazy that two people would attempt to take on moving vehicles on foot but I figured later that they put their bodies in harm's way on a regular basis by engaging in prostitution. Things got pretty tense. A truck in our patrol went over the rail road ties to get away, the two smaller vehicles had to fend for ourselves as 911 would not have enough time to stop this. We waited until they got closer and then we sped around them. It was very dangerous. One missed our car with the rock but the other car took damage from a stick. The two transvestites then jumped into a brand new white Acura and ran their car straight at us. We had to roll into the ditch to avoid a head on collision. We were just trying to get away but they pursued. Finally, we went to the post office parking lot where we radioed to our fellow patrollers who met us there. TPD arrived and handled the situation. Ofc. J. N. was able to get them to admit to what they had done and he arrested them. As the cuff's were being locked on their wrists, one started crying and said he/she didn't blame us, that it was our neighborhood and that they weren't even from Tampa. We then discovered that the driver of the Acura was a manager at a MacDonald's in Ocala. He/she begged to be let go so they could make it to work on the next day. "You should have thought of that before. Now it's too late." said N. and closed the door." - J.H
to be continued.......
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