Tukwila Officer Arrested In Sting
TUKWILA - A Tukwila police officer is on paid administrative leave after Des Moines police arrested him in a prostitution sting last week.
Patrol Officer Carl Johnston, 37, allegedly agreed to pay an undercover police officer for a sex act on June 11. He was arrested by uniformed officers when he accompanied the woman to a motel room in the 22400 block of Pacific Highway South, said Des Moines Lt. Mitch Barker.
Twelve other men were arrested in the sting, part of an ongoing effort by Des Moines police to crack down on prostitution by targeting patrons.
Johnston was charged this week in Des Moines Municipal Court with patronizing a prostitute, a misdemeanor offense. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, said Prosecuting Attorney Colleen Hartl. Johnston paid $1,000 bail.
A court document said Johnston told the undercover officer he was shopping for lawn mower parts, then the conversation turned to "partying." At one point Johnston asked, "Are you a cop?"
"Do I look like a cop? You look more like a cop," the decoy told Johnston.
Unlike the other men caught in the sting, he was not taken to the Kent jail for processing. After Johnston identified himself as a police officer, Barker said he drove him to a bank where he withdrew enough cash to post bail immediately. Then Johnston was taken to the Des Moines police precinct for fingerprinting and processing.
Barker said the special treatment was not a department policy. But he defended his decision to expedite Johnston's release by saying he wanted to avoid processing Johnston at the Kent jail, which probably held people Johnston himself had arrested.
Tukwila Police Chief Ron Waldner said his department's internal investigation into the allegations will take about one week.
Waldner said this is the first time in his 28-year career he has seen such charges made against an officer in his department.
Seattle Times South bureau reporter Charles Aweeka contributed to this report