drive thru coffee bariststrippers charged with prostitution

[sam]

No johns were arrested in the making of this sexy news story.

Five risque Everett Grab-N-Go baristas charged with prostitution
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/200909 ... news01ad=1
By Diana Hefley

EVERETT — Five baristas are accused of engaging in prostitution at an Everett bikini espresso stand following a two-month undercover police investigation into complaints that the women were selling more than coffee.

Detectives say the women were charging up to $80 to strip down and flash customers while fixing lattes and mochas.

Investigators saw the women expose their crotches, lick whipped cream off their co-workers' private parts and pose naked for pictures inside the Grab-n-Go Espresso stand on Broadway, according to police reports obtained by The Herald on Wednesday.

Detectives also witnessed some of the women charge customers to touch their bare breasts and naked buttocks. Touching of that kind, for pay, falls under the city's definition of prostitution.

The women, ages 18 to 24, were charged Wednesday with multiple counts of prostitution and violating the city's adult entertainment ordinance, both misdemeanors, Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said.

No arrests have been made. The women are expected to be arraigned in Everett Municipal Court in a few weeks.

Bill Wheeler, the owner of the stands, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The investigation began in mid-July after police heard a stream of complaints about baristas baring too much.

Everett police during the past year had received more than 40 complaints about various bikini coffee stands around the Everett area. Many of the complaints focused on women who were exposing their breasts, genitals or buttocks, according to police reports.

The department decided to investigate the Grab-n-Go Espresso — the business generating the most complaints, Goetz said.

Some of the complaints alleged that some baristas at the Everett coffee hut and three other Grab-n-Go Espresso stands in unincorporated Snohomish County were engaging in prostitution, an Everett police detective wrote in his reports.

Sheriff's deputies also have received complaints about the Grab-n-Go Espresso south of Silver Lake. Employees of nearby businesses have complained that the stand is a haven for lewd behavior. None of those complaints have resulted in any criminal charges, sheriff's spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said.

Everett police focused their investigation on the stand within the city limits, Goetz said.

“This was about alleged conduct, not about what the women were wearing,” he said. “They could have been wearing parkas and if they continued to conduct themselves that way, we still would have filed the criminal charges.”

Undercover detectives began posing as customers in mid-July.

An Everett detective took a city prosecutor to the stand to witness firsthand the activities of the baristas. During that visit, two women allegedly engaged in a “whipped cream show,” in which they sprayed whipped cream on each other and licked it off.

On a second visit, a detective was told he couldn't have a mocha because the stand was out of chocolate. He also was told he couldn't order a small drink because they only served 20-ounce beverages.

The barista told him that for $20, she and the other barista would give him a show. He paid and they bared their breasts and pulled down their undergarments, police reports said.

The detective noted that stand is about 30 yards off the roadway and about 10 feet lower than the road level, making it easy to see into the business from the street. During the undercover operation, traffic was regularly stopped in front of the stand because of nearby construction, according to investigators.

Detectives say the women also charged customers to play “basketball” — a game in which customers were allowed to throw waded up money at women who caught the money in their underpants.

Investigators also witnessed women strip down and perch on the drive-thru window ledge in full view of passing cars. The five women also allowed customers, who paid extra, to grab their breasts and buttocks, police allege.

“We understand why citizens in our community are extremely upset about the conduct and based on what our detectives found in their investigation, it's pretty clear to see why,” Goetz said.

Everett police have closed their investigation into the stand. They will continue to investigate any new complaints about prostitution at espresso stands or any location in the city, Goetz said.

Meanwhile, the City Council is expected to decide next week whether to change the city's lewd conduct ordinance to include espresso stands.

The proposed change, which was part of a regular review of city codes, would not prevent baristas from wearing bikinis, city spokeswoman Kate Reardon said. It also still would be legal for women to wear pasties and sheer undergarments as long as their nipples and areolas are covered.

Police say their investigation was prompted by people's complaints and separate from any review of city ordinances being considered by city lawmakers.

“We were going forward with our investigation no matter what was going on with the council,” Goetz said.

[gbl]

What great tourist pr for the area. Sarc.

[buggle]

Nice how the article makes it sound like these women were just doing these things on their own- no men mentioned- like you said- no johns arrested. Like these women are just stripping for no one. Why is it ALWAYS the women who are punished?

During that visit, two women allegedly engaged in a “whipped cream show,” in which they sprayed whipped cream on each other and licked it off.

aaaaand, who were they doing this show for? Article makes it sound like they were just doing this for fun at their job- hellooooo- if men weren't paying them, they wouldn't be doing that!!

“They could have been wearing parkas and if they continued to conduct themselves that way, we still would have filed the criminal charges.”

And what about the MEN paying them- no problem with the way they were "conducting themselves?" And if they wore parkas, I betcha they'd get fired for not looking sexxee enough!!!

GRRRRRRRR.

[delphyne]

Also why aren't their pimp/bosses being charged? Don't tell me that the owners didn't know what was going on, or in fact were probably telling their staff that's what they had to do to earn money.

[thebewilderness]

In the news write ups when the place opened I distinctly recall the owners arguing that it was all perfectly legal and no different from a lap dance club that served drinks.
No problem getting the license.
No problem getting the food handlers permits.
Well publicized, both locally and nationally over a year ago.

Now, oliver sudden, the women are criminals! WTF?

[gbl]

It's not like they came up with it on their own, as you say. Just happened to find a can of whipped cream there, and said Hey! Let's!

[sam]

Everett bikini barista pleads guilty

A Bikini barista who had faced a prostitution charge pleaded guilty Monday in Everett Municipal Court to working without an adult entertainment license and was sentenced to 20 days in jail.

The Associated Press
EVERETT, Wash. —

A Bikini barista who had faced a prostitution charge pleaded guilty Monday in Everett Municipal Court to working without an adult entertainment license and was sentenced to 20 days in jail.

The Daily Herald reports she is allowed to serve her time under home electronic monitoring. Judge Timothy O'Dell also ordered the woman to be fully clothed - no bikini or lingerie - when she works at an espresso stand.

The 21-year-old had been charged with prostitution after detectives photographed her licking whipped cream off another barista.

Four other baristas charged after a lewd behavior investigation last year at the Grab-n-Go Espresso stand will have charges dropped if they stay out of trouble for two years.

[sam]

Grab-N-Go Bikini Hut Espresso Stand Owner Missing
June 12, 2010
http://news.gather .com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978297349

Bill Wheeler, owner of the infamous Grab-n-Go Espresso stands in Washington state, has gone missing. The coffee standsare known for both bikini clad baristas and prostitution charges. Family members say Mr. Wheeler was last seen on May 26, 2010 when he was headed to Las Vegas. His abandoned and burned pick-up truck was found 3 days later north of Los Angeles. News reports do not state whether the police suspect foul play.

Wheeler's espresso stands came under fire last year, when five of his employees, Samantha Lancaster, Alexis Quigley, Kristina Evenson, Leloni Bailey, and Dana Fitzpatrick, were charged with prostitution after an undercover sting. Another young woman, Bridget Barnhouse, was charged with indecent exposure. I won't get into the actual details here. Suffice it to say, the women's behavior was something more akin to "Girls Gone Wild" than to Starbucks. The charges prompted the Everett Washington City Council to ban lewd behavior in businesses with drive up windows.

[sam]

Everett Grab N’ Go Espresso stand repossessed
By Debra Smith, Feb 10, 2011
http://heraldnet.com/article/20110210/NEWS01/702109828

EVERETT — A risque coffee stand that was once the target of an undercover prostitution sting was shutdown Thursday — but not because of its scantily clad baristas.

The Grab N’ Go Espresso stand at 8015 Broadway was repossessed because its owners never fully paid for the stand.

Two civil attorneys, accompanied by Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies, showed up Thursday morning to close down the hut. A barista wearing thigh-high black leather boots, lacy black lingerie and a garter threw on a winter coat and pulled some items out of the chartreuse-colored stand.

Workmen unhooked the electricity and plumbing and the building was loaded onto a truck and taken away.

The other Grab N’ Go stands in the chain were not part of the seizure.

Bill Wheeler, the owner of Grab N’ Go, never fully paid off a $68,196 promissory note for this one stand, said Seattle attorney Sara Kim.

Her client, businesswoman Jenny Kim, never wanted to sell the stand to Wheeler in the first place. Another party bought the stand and then immediately assigned the promissory note to Wheeler, Sara Kim said.

With interest and attorney fees, Wheeler’s company, BDW Services Inc., now owes more than $80,000, according to court documents.

“I was kind of surprised,” Sara Kim said. “People around here seemed happy to see it go.”

Attorney Larry Glosser, who was helping Sara Kim, said the stand would be stored in a secure place and then auctioned off.

“The Grab N’ Go is now Grab N’ Gone,” he said.

Grab N’ Go nabbed the attention of local and national media in 2009 after five baristas were accused of engaging in prostitution at the stand following a two-month undercover police investigation.

Wheeler later disappeared in May 2010 during a trip to Las Vegas. His burned out Toyota pickup truck was later found abandoned at popular dump site in the California high desert.

Shortly after his disappearance, his wife Carol Wheeler took over her husband’s chain of espresso stands.

Sara Kim said Carol Wheeler called her while the hut was being hauled away and offered $5,000 to stop.

“She did contact me today to negotiate,” the attorney said. “She just didn’t have enough to stop this process.”

[MGO]

Typical. The YW take the wrap. Wheeler scarpers and is not seen again.