Beaver Falls police posing as johns arrested four women on prostitution-related charges last week. The women were found loitering around Eighth Avenue, an area police say is a hotbed for prostitutes and pimps. Women and men will flag down customers during daylight hours while in the business district, Minnitte said. In some cases, they jump into cars uninvited while the drivers are stopped.
That's caused fear for some residents, Minnitte said. We have a lot of elderly people in this town, and they don't like to see that. Beaver Falls Councilman Leonard Chiappetta, who has had an appraisal agency on Eighth Avenue for more than 50 years, said he sees men and women signaling for customers.
Just as ordinary is the sight of vehicles circling the neighborhood looking for someone to pick up. Also a resident of 13th Street, Chiappetta said, he has at times approached the men and women in front of his home and asked them to move on.
Usually, he said, the request is greeted by a flurry of obscenities, but works, if only temporarily. They're back within a few days, he said. The customers who drive around his neighborhood leave him similarly disgruntled. After paying fines or serving minimal jail time, he expects they'll be back on the streets. Site Archive.
