The former top cop of
Robbinsdale, Steven Smith, was arrested in February for allegedly soliciting a
prostitute in another town.
BY STEPHEN REX BROWN
A suburban Minneapolis police
chief was arrested for allegedly soliciting a prostitute last month — but
stayed on the job until Saturday.
Robbinsdale’s former top cop,
Steven Smith, was one of 11 people who allegedly responded to a Backpage.com
escorts advertisement, police in nearby Coon Rapids said in a release.
Smith, 45, kept working until
Saturday — four days after a Coon Rapids cop happened to recognize him from his
mugshot, Capt. Cary Parks confirmed to the Daily News.
The towns are 20 minutes apart.
He had no identification on him
indicating he was a police officer [at this time of his arrest],” Parks said,
explaining why no one realized they’d cuffed the high-profile suspect.
He was to enter a plea Monday
on misdemeanor prostitution charges but his attorney was granted a continuance.
Cops said Smith had offered to
pay $150 in cash for sex and $50 more not to use a condom, MyFox9 in
Minneapolis reported. Cops said he used the name "Scott" as an alias.
Robbinsdale's mayor, Regan
Murphy, said he was shocked to learn of the reason for Smith’s abrupt
resignation.
“All I ask is moving forward,
we’ve got someone in place that’s going to do a fantastic job, and to judge the
department and city on actual interaction during work in Robbinsdale rather
than one individual, off duty, in another town,” Murphy told CBS Minnesota.
Coon Rapids cops says the
department is not obligated to notify an employer if one of its employees is
arrested.
State policy requires cops
notify their department within days of an arrest.
“Anyone answering a Backpage or
other similar ad that says to meet in Coon Rapids, don’t do it. You will be
arrested no matter who you are,” Coon Rapids
