SAVANNAH — An Effingham County man was one of 13 “johns” arrested in a two-day prostitution sting in and around Savannah.
Jonathan M. Pfuhi, 38, of Rincon and 12 other men were charged with pandering. Also arrested were seven women for prostitution and one man for pimping.
The Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department partnered with five other law enforcement agencies to make the arrests in hotels and motels frequented by users of the website BackPage.com. The national Web site offers advertising for services in several cities.
Undercover officers arranged “dates” with women advertising on the website while other officers advertised as prostitutes themselves to arrange dates at other hotels, according to SCMPD spokesman Julian Miller. The first day of the operation focused on the midtown area of Savannah and the second was directed toward hotels near Interstate 95 exits in Savannah, Pooler, Garden City and Port Wentworth.
“Each community is affected by the prostitution itself, and also by the thefts, robberies and drug operations known to accompany it,” Miller said. “Plans are to continue such efforts against the prostitution operations.”
Also charged with pandering were Corie D. Jackson, 30, of Savannah; Alonzo N. Lyford, 38, of Savannah; Yousef O. Issa, 25, of Garden City; Brian T. Edwards, 43, of Richmond Hill; Craig X. Jackson, Jr., 30, of Savannah; Nicholas R. Salentine, 27, of Hinesville; Alan Ramjattan, 41, of Early Branch, S.C.; Viren Patel, 36, of Savannah; Noe Cruz Lopez, 24, of Brunswick; Joseph K. Erlach, 20, of Fort Stewart; Christopher J. Dankowski, 29, of Midway; and Richard M. Bourgeois, 31, of Port Wentworth.
Charged with pimping was Johnathan L. Turner, who was arrested for the second time by Savannah-Chatham Metro police.
Arrested for prostitution were November McCallum, 23, of Pennsylvania; Onyx M. Eley, 22, of Virginia; Brittany P. Brown, 23, Hickory, N.C..; Lindsey M. Blackburn, 23, of Richmond Hill; Shadona L. Scott, 25, of Tampa, Fla.; Altricesa V. Rosser, 25, of Atlanta; and Brenda L. Carr, 23, of Orlando, Fla.
Scott also was charged with possession of marijuana and possession of a controlled substance. It was her second arrest by Metro police, Miller said.
Rosser also was charged with battery and possession of marijuana, and Carr also was charged with possession of marijuana and bribery.
Participating in the operation were Metro’s Savannah Area Regional Intelligence Center (SARIC) detectives, crime suppression units from West Chatham and Southside precincts, police officers from Pooler and Garden City and Port Wentworth, and Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations.
