Winchester Woman Arrested in Redlands Prostitution Sting

This post was written by Patch Local Editor Guy McCarthy.

A Winchester woman was among four people arrested Wednesday in Redlands during a multi-agency prostitution sting, a spokesman for Redlands police announced Thursday.

Law enforcement set up their operation June 5 in a motel room at an undisclosed location in the city of Redlands, and contacted women who advertised on the classified advertising website craigslist.org, according to Redlands spokesman Carl Baker.

"Three women agreed to meet at the motel room," Baker said. "When each of the women arrived, they negotiated sexual acts they would perform and accepted money from the undercover officers. The women were arrested after the money changed hands."

Law enforcement also arrested one man on suspicion of a parole violation when he dropped one of the women off, Baker said.

The arrested women were identified as Airyssa Shannon, 21, of Winchester, Shanan Lea Akutagawa, 24, of Pomona, and Ashley Marie Nissen, 24, of Perris, Baker said. All three were cited for prostitution and booked at Central Detention Center in San Bernardino.

The arrested man was identified as Gregory Wayne Atkins, 24, who was wanted for repeatedly failing to report to his parole officer, Baker said. Atkins was also booked at Central Detention Center in San Bernardino.

The East Valley Enforcement Team that conducted the sting operation included Redlands police, San Bernardino police, Riverside police and San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies.

Baker urged anyone with info about suspicious activity to call Redlands Police Dispatch at 951-798-7681. Anonymous tipsters can text 274637 using the keyword "REDTIP." Some non-emergency crimes can be reported online at http://ci.redlands.ca.us/police/coplogic/start-report.html.