PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- As school started this week, the Providence police faced a problem in Olneyville -- clearing the area of prostitutes.
Residents and people driving along the stretch of Atwells Avenue, between Valley Street and Mount Pleasant Avenue, had complained of seeing streetwalkers and pimps hanging on the corners.
"We have a problem with the 'ladies of the evening' out in early morning on Atwells Avenue," said Councilman Michael J. Correia.
Concerned about children having to walk by prostitutes on their way to school, Correia asked the Providence police for help.
So, early Wednesday morning, the first day of school, undercover detectives conducted a sting, said Capt. Anthony Sauro. They started at 5:30 a.m. and within a span of 70 minutes, the police arrested an alleged pimp, his driver, and four women who detectives said solicited them for sex.
Robert Bagwell, 33, of 177 Julian St., bragged about one of the women to undercover detective Patrick Potter, reportedly telling him: "Yea, she's good, she's one of my best."
That was one of the last things Bagwell said before the police charged him with pandering.
Bagwell had been standing with the women by Atwells Avenue and Putnam Street as they flagged down the undercover detectives and got into their unmarked cars, according to a police report. One at a time, the women working for Bagwell offered their services, charging anywhere from $20 to $50 for sex, according to the police.
Geneva Pearson, 30, Destiny Rigollet, 21, and Michelle Parker, 32, were charged with loitering for prostitution, as was Rosalind (alias Latoya) Wilcox, 30, who was on her own at Atwells and Cutler Street. A man who was driving Bagwell around, Braulio Matos, 23, of 18 Mongenais St., was charged with driving without a license.
Correia said that the area has been quiet in the two days after the sweep. "There's no one around, and the parents are happy," he said.
Sauro said the detectives will return early Tuesday morning to continue the sweep -- and he doesn't mind alerting the public ahead of time.
"There are numerous school bus stops and literally hundreds of students boarding the bus on Atwells," Sauro said in an email. "We want to make sure there are no prostitutes on the street when the kids are going to school."