×

Warren Police raid alleged ‘brothel’

Tribune Chronicle / Renee Fox Gregory V. Hicks, Warren law director, talks about a nine-month long investigation at 765 Kenilworth Ave. SE, Warren, outside the home officials described as a brothel and said is known online for its stripper pole. The house’s occupant was arrested on a charge of promoting prostitution, but there is an ongoing investigation. The city sought and was granted a temporary restraining order from Trumbull County Common Pleas Court that prohibits anyone from entering the property.

WARREN — A home described by officials as a “brothel” and known online for its stripper pole was boarded up Monday and its owner arrested following a nine-month investigation, the city’s law director said.

Daniel J. Blasco, 62, 765 Kenilworth Ave. SE, is being held without bond in the Trumbull County Jail on a fourth-degree felony charge of promoting prostitution, according to jail and Warren Municipal Court records. An arraignment has not yet been scheduled.

Warren Law Director Gregory V. Hicks said it appears the home was a “brothel” with women rotating in and out.

“Right now it doesn’t appear he was working with anyone else, but this is an active investigation. There could be more charges, depending on what we find,” Hicks said.

While officers Monday afternoon searched the Kenilworth Avenue SE house, a crew nailed plywood over the windows and doors. The city sought and was granted a temporary restraining order from Trumbull County Common Pleas Court that prohibits anyone from entering the property, Hicks said.

“We want to keep everyone out of here. We don’t want him to bond out and come back and keep doing what he was doing, bothering the neighbors,” Hicks said. “This is a nice neighborhood, they shouldn’t have to put up with this.”

The hearing on the nuisance abatement is scheduled for 9 a.m. Sept. 27 before Common Pleas Court Judge Andrew D. Logan.

Investigators are looking into allegations the women who were working out of the house were kept on drugs and at times locked in rooms, Hicks said. During a search of the home, officers saw locks on the outside of inside doors, but haven’t come to any conclusion about whether or not the women were being held there against their will, Hicks said.

“It appears there was a great deal of drug activity going on,” Hicks said.

It is unclear if the women were all adults, but that is something the investigators are looking into, Hicks added.

When Blasco was arrested on the charge Monday morning, he was with a woman in his car, Hicks said. There was no one in the house when police arrived to search the home.

The woman is not facing charges, Hicks said. After Blasco was taken into custody, the woman was brought into an interview room and could barely stand up, Hicks said. The woman fell asleep on the floor of the interview room and officers thought she was overdosing on drugs, Hicks said.

“She was really messed up,” Hicks said.

The investigation began in January, Hicks said. Neighbors complained about activity at the home and officers found evidence online the place was advertised as a “stripper pole house,” where women performed dances for clients who paid for sex.

Blasco owns the house and bought it in 2008, according to Trumbull County Auditor’s Office records.

One neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said women walked up and down the street often and people were coming and going from the house at all times of the night.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
     

Starting at $4.85/week.

Subscribe Today