UPDATE NOV. 26: A Facebook post led police in Las Vegas to arrest a former officer suspected of soliciting prostitution from a teenager on her way to school, according to a newly-released arrest report.
Retired officer Kirk Reed Hooten was arrested last week.
According to the report, a Facebook post made on November 15, 2019 caught the attention of a Las Vegas police officer. At the time, it was shared over 2,000 times.
The post read, according to the report:
My biggest fear as came tru today some white man tried to take my lil 16 year old sister today while she was walking near mlk and bonanza , y'all our young GIRLS are not safe he tried to force her to get in the car thank god I'm not at work rn and was right down the street be on the look out y'all !
The report says the Facebook post included pictures of a tan pickup truck. Police say they used the pictures to find the registered owner, identified as Hooten, and found the same truck at Hooten's address while scoping the area later that day.
The next day, Nov. 16, police spoke with the teenage victim.
She told police that she was at a bus stop near Martin Luther King Boulevard and Bonanza Road on Nov. 15 around 7:50 a.m. waiting for the bus to take her to school. She was the only one at the stop, the report says.
The teen told police that she felt someone staring at her and that's when she noticed a pickup truck drive past her then make a u-turn.
The report says she told officers that a man in the truck told her to get inside three times, to which she said, "No."
The teen told police she got scared and called her sister. While she was on the phone, the truck drove away and her sister told her to go into a nearby Chevron gas station and that she would come to pick her up.
The report goes on to say the teen could see the man's truck pull up to the gas station. The man got out of the vehicle and went into the convenience store, she told police.
When her sister arrived at the Chevron to pick her up, he exited the store and said something to her that she could not here, the report says. The man then got into his truck and drove away.
The sisters took pictures of the truck as it was leaving the gas station and followed it to take pictures of the back of the vehicle and license plates, the report says.
On Nov. 17 police spoke with Hooten.
During the interview, Hooten told officers that he read the Facebook post that and that he did not try to "force" anyone into a vehicle, telling police that the post was, "One hundred percent incorrect."
The reports says Hooten told officers, "Did I cat-call? Yes, I yelled out the window, I thought she might have been a hooker, I'm not going to lie. And yelled out the window, 'You working? You want a ride?' She yelled, 'No.' I immediately veered over to the ah Chevron, pulled in."
Hooten told police he thought the young teen was 17-19 years old and only after she exited the gas station did he realize she was younger, the report says.
When asked what made him want to contact her, the report says he told police, "She was cute, I thought she would have been one of the best-looking hookers in the area."
He went on to tell police that once he realized his mistake Hooten tried to apologize to the girl as he was leaving the Chevron, the report says.
Hooten is currently free on $10,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 13.
ORIGINAL STORY
LAS VEGAS (KTNV) -- Retired police officer Kirk Reed Hooten was recently arrested for soliciting a child for prostitution.
According to court records, the arrest warrant was issued on Nov. 21. His bail was set at $10,000 the same day and he bailed out on Nov. 22.
Sheriff Joe Lombardo sent the following statement to 13 Action News:
This case came about as a result of proactive police work by LVMPD detectives who became aware of social media post on November 15th reference a recent incident involving a teenage girl in the valley. That same day detectives followed up by locating the teen and her family and investigated their allegations further. As a result of that investigation, Hooten was subsequently identified and the case against him was submitted to the district attorney.
Beyond this statement, I will not be making further comment.
An arrest report for Hooten has not been released at this time. Hooten is scheduled to return to court on Nov. 25.
