4 men arrested during local prostitution sting

Four men were arrested during a prostitution sting in Richmond on Saturday, according to a social media post from the Richmond Police Department.

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Operation “Buyers Remorse” took place in the 1400 block of East Main Street.

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Undercover Richmond police officers arrested Donald Stipp, Alfonso Poou, Richard Manis III, and Ivan Alavez, according to the post.

The men are accused of trying to buy sex.

The department said the operation wasn’t only about illegal transactions, but “confronting the exploitation that often exists beneath the surface.”

“Many of the women involved in prostitution have been battered, raped, or manipulated—forced into things they may not have chosen under different circumstances. These situations are often driven by addiction, desperation, or the lasting effects of past trauma,” the post said.

The operation only took “a few hours,” and the department is planning to do it again, according to the post.

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