A Georgia deputy police chief was arrested after he was caught in an undercover sting where he had offered White Claw alcoholic seltzers as part of the payment for sexual activity in Florida, authorities said.
Jason DiPrima was arrested in Polk County, Florida, and charged with soliciting prostitution, lewdness or assignation. He was booked into the Polk County Jail but released after paying a $500 bond.
"As I understand, after talking to (DiPrima’s) chief, he’s been there almost 30 years, graduated from the FBI Academy. Well-respected police officer in town," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during a news conference on Tuesday. "Did you notice I said in town? But he was out of town."
DiPrima was in Orlando, Florida attending a polygraph training workshop when he responded to an online escort advertisement. However, the advertisement was part of the Polk County Sheriff's Department's week-long undercover initiative designed to identify people involved in human trafficking and arrest those who procure and engage in prostitution.
He began by exchanging messages via text message with an undercover detective by asking, "Are you available tonight? I'd like to come see you—what is your rate?"
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DiPrima eventually agreed to engage in sexual activities with the undercover detective, the sheriff’s office said, but then told the detective he got "spooked" and asked to see her the next night.
"On Thursday night, he just couldn’t resist the urge to be with our undercover detective who he thought was a high-class prostitute," Judd said.
He agreed to pay the undercover detective $120 for a half-hour of "full service" sex, the sheriff’s office said.
He showed up at an undisclosed location in an undercover police cruiser normally assigned to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents and gave the detective $180 and a multipack of White Claw Hard Seltzer. DiPrima was then arrested.
Officials said it was not DiPrima's first time soliciting a prositute in Florida. He told the undercover detective that he had engaged with another prostitute online for $200 the night before. The alleged prostitute asked DiPrima to get a Cash App card with the money and send her a picture of it, he told the undercover detective.
"This guy is a cop. And he was flimflammed and conned by a prostitute," Judd said. "She took the information off the card, got the $200 and left him high and dry."
Cartersville police confirmed that DiPrima has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.
What are you thinking?" Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at a press conference Tuesday. "You just want to go ‘c’mon man, have you lost the last three brain cells, or do you just have cabbage for brains?'"
