Police are looking for a Chicago man who was charged with promoting prostitution at a Merrillville hotel a year ago.
FBI agents working a Cross County sex trafficking operation in July 2023 reported to Hobart Police that a black Chevy Impala dropped off woman at the Comfort Inn, 1915 Mississippi St, according to a probable cause affidavit filed August 8. The woman entered a room in the hotel that investigators were using to catch people engaging in prostitution, court records said.
The woman propositioned an undercover Indiana State Police investigator in the room, the affidavit said, at which point she was taken into custody.
Officers then pulled over the Impala because it pulled away at the same time the woman was arrested, court records said. The driver identified himself as Rodney C. Clark, 32, and told officers he was from Chicago and “just chilin’,” but officers noticed there was a purse in the front passenger side.
Clark told the officers it was the purse of a friend he dropped off at the hotel, records said. When officers went through its contents, they discovered the purse belonged to the woman they’d just arrested. Clark was then arrested for suspected promotion of prostitution.
The woman, meanwhile, told officers that Clark, her boyfriend of about four years, had set up “her online ads for promoting herself for prostitution,” records said. She also admitted owning one of two cell phones officers confiscated and gave them its password.
Later that day, Clark, who was in custody at the Hobart Police Station, denied that he and the woman were in a relationship despite having a prior domestic disturbance report with her. He claimed he was waiting for her at the Comfort Inn but couldn’t explain why he had $2,000 in cash on him when he claimed he makes only $5,000 to $10,000 a year doing odd jobs, records said.
Further investigation of the confiscated cell phones revealed pictures and texts between Clark and the woman indicating that both they were mutually involved in the woman engaging in prostitution and that Clark had a significant role in arranging her appointments since at least January 2023, according to the affidavit.
Clark was charged with two counts of Promoting Prostitution, a Level 5 felony. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.