Othello police arrest 15 people in sex trafficking operation

The Othello (Washington) Police Department arrested 15 alleged sex buyers from around the region in an operation spanning several weeks.

“As affiliates of the FBI Human Trafficking Task Force, we are dedicated to combatting the sexual exploitation of women, children, and men in our community,” an OPD Facebook post reads. “It is the stance of the Othello Police Department that if no one purchased commercial sex, then sex trafficking would not exist!”

Sex buyers ran from police, assaulted police and promoted prostitution during the investigation, police said. Charges included patronizing a prostitute, promoting prostitution, resisting arrest, forgery and a domestic violence no-contact order violation. OPD thanked the Warden Police Department and Washington State Department of Corrections for assistance.

The arrested suspects are Omar Ruiz, 25, of Moses Lake; Patrick Baker, 44, of Federal Way, Washington; Manuel Torres-Adame, 41, of Othello; Hilario Moreno, 40, of Kennewick; Kobe Mcelmurry, 24, of Moses Lake; Calixtio Agudo-Hernandez, 39, of Mattawa, Wash.; Elias Gomez-Velasco, 28, of Mattawa; Darin Ross, 44, of Othello; Natasha Attaway, 44, of Ellensburg; Jaime Sanabria-Mendivelso, 37, of Moses Lake; Victor Lystedt, 57, of Maple Valley, Wash.; Jayme Brashears, 51, of Electric City, Wash.; Gilbert Reyes, 32, of Warden, Wash.; Rolando Gonzalez-Chavez, 33, of Soap Lake, Wash.; and Chad Larson, 51, of Kennewick.