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 Linda Thomas
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Linda is the morning news anchor and features reporter for KIRO Radio. This is her local news blog, with an emphasis on social media, technology, Northwest companies, education, parenting, and anything else that grabs her attention.

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Bikini Barista
The cliche about police officers loving donuts began when they visited bakeries for coffee and donuts since they were often the only neighborhood shops open. But in the Puget Sound region, local cops from Everett to Kent seem to be spending a lot of time undercover at barista stands. (MyNorthwest file photo)

For cops, bikini barista stands might be the new donut shops

February 28, 2013 @ 7:04 pm (Updated: 8:36 am - 3/1/13 )

The cliche about police officers loving donuts began when they visited bakeries for coffee and donuts. Those neighborhood shops were often the only businesses open early in the morning.

Local cops from Everett to Kent seem to be spending far more time at bikini barista stands than in donut shops.

Kent police say two baristas were arrested for committing lewd acts in the presence of undercover police officers.

The police investigation into Twin Peaks Espresso started several months ago, in late 2012 after several people complained that the women would expose themselves for excess cash or commit lewd acts.

Officers arrested a 23-year-old woman and a 19-year-old girl after discovering, through their undercover research involving drive ups and site surveillance, that woman would flash their private parts if customers paid excessive tips of up to $25.

This bust of bust exposure follows a case a couple weeks ago at the Grab-N-Go espresso stands at two locations in Everett.

Again, people complained about indecent exposure so what else could officers do? They had to spend two months investigating the alleged violation of city adult-entertainment codes.

Undercover work by officers led to the arrests of three baristas who at times didn't even serve coffee.

Does that sound familiar?

Everett Police have been there before. In 2009, another two-month undercover investigation led to five arrests at one of the same Grab-N-Go stands.

As much as the Seattle-area has a rich coffee history, it has a more recent history of undercover police investigations of bikini barista stands.

These cases generally seem to take a full two months to investigate.

A couple of years ago, the Edmonds Police Department orchestrated a nine-month undercover investigation resulting in the arrest of the Java Juggs Espresso owner and three employees.

At the time, Edmonds PD Sgt. Don Anderson defended the undercover officers.

"This wasn't their only ongoing investigation or their only priority," he said, "but enough complaints came in from the community that it was obvious we had an obligation to investigate."

By LINDA THOMAS

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Comments (64)


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  • Cameron wrote...
    How about it Linda? Let's see a report.
    March 3, 2013 4:54 am
    Break it down for us Linda. How much has local law enforcement spend on busting barista's, Massage parlors, Strips Clubs over the last 10 years. I believe until Jean Kohl-Wells gets the legislation passed to eliminate male sex drive in the State of Washington, the demand will continue to be here. Fortunately for Kohl-Wells she works with a large contingent of Gender Neutered Democrat legislators and can probably get it through the house and get Inslee to support it.
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  • TheNewsChick wrote...
    Cameron
    March 3, 2013 7:28 am
    For what it's worth, I am doing a public records request on a few of these cases. Could be very little time is needed over the course of two months to determine whether girls are exposing themselves to customers for tips.
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  • Cameron wrote...
    Thanks Linda! I look forward to a breakdown of the time and actual costs aassociated with the stings.
    March 3, 2013 7:48 am
    The overall point is that I believe that law enforcement is spending a lot of time and resources on victimless crimes. The passive aggressive moral code that Police are being asked to enforce and Prosecuters are being asked to charge is an expensive joke on the taxpayers. Given the progressive nature of the area, it is amazing that a women's choice to do what she wants with her own body is largely limited to abortion. Why shouldn't adult consentual prostitution be allowed? Probably because the Government figures it is missing out on a taxable event.
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