Police report shows Hernandez warned about tenants’ activity
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HUBBARD -- A police report from an arrest following a Mahoning Valley search warrant last year revealed new information about a county commissioner's stance on its tenants.
A supplemental police report following the warrant served at the 3C Foot Spa on Youngstown Hubbard Road by city police, in collaboration with the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force, revealed that task force agents were being solicited throughout their investigation.
The investigation was initiated in February 2023 by Hubbard city police, but the task force got involved 10 months later at the start of 2024, after patrol officers observed the business and noted license plates parked there owned by individuals living far away from the city.
According to the report, the task force's agents were reported to have been solicited in the eight meetings Hubbard police officials had with the MVHTT between Jan. 9 and Aug. 2.
Officers had plans to do another undercover operation before the August raid to identify and arrest the woman if she solicited the undercover agent. Officers could not move forward with any charges "because they couldn't identify her without question and didn't want to risk charging an innocent person with a crime," the report states.
The report states Hubbard police detective Michael Banic -- the reporting officer -- and police Chief Robert Thompson met with Trumbull County Commissioner and former Hubbard Township Trustee Rick Hernandez, who owned the building, and explained what was happening there.
Banic stated he told Hernandez that solicitation was happening at the building and that it happened to the MVHTT's agents.
Hernandez told Thompson and Banic that he did not know the names of the women working there and that he only knew "Lisa" Furong Li of Flushing, New York, who would later be arrested and charged with solicitation, promoting prostitution and practicing medicine without a license during a raid Feb. 28.
The report states Banic and Thompson told Hernandez that customers parking across the street to visit the business was a sign that something wrong was happening, adding that women were living in the building too -- which wasn't permitted per Hubbard's ordinances. They also told Hernandez he was in the best position to stop things.
Hernandez told the officers that their lease was up in December.
Banic told Hernandez he believed he had "plenty of reason" to evict them, but referred him to his attorney for advice.
HERNANDEZ COMMENTS
Hernandez confirmed that Banic and Thompson met with him following the August raid, but didn't know why the supplemental report had him saying Li's lease on the building ended in December.
I told them (Banic and Thompson) that I'm committed under contract and they're wrong in their assessment when I have the original paperwork here; that tenant had that lease until March 1, the day that they raided it a second time," Hernandez said. "That tenant had every right to be there until March 1 of 2025 -- I have the contract here in front of me."
Hernandez provided a copy of the building's lease agreement, which ran from March 1, 2024, to March 1, 2025.
Hernandez said he told Thompson and Banic that he did not want to evict Li without an arrest or incarceration because he didn't want to run the risk of being brought to court for a break in the lease agreement.
Hernandez said they told him that if he didn't evict Li, they were going to shut her down as a nuisance.
He reaffirmed a previous statement that he wouldn't hesitate to remove Li if there was an arrest or incarceration. Because the second raid was done a day before the lease's conclusion, he didn't have to renew because she was out of the agreement.
Hernandez said that he fully cooperated with MVHTT officials during the August raid, providing them with cell phone conversations, Li's name and number, and they left the meeting thanking him because landlords typically don't do that much.
Hernandez said he removed signs from the building and sent her on her way.
He said that Li, who was released from jail, got her belongings and returned to New York after being released on bond March 5.
Hernandez said the case has been "pushed out of proportion" because of his role as an elected official in the county.
"This is not something that is standard with any other as a landlord," he said. "It is because of my position with the county."