Tacoma News Tribune Logo

Pimp claimed he was ride-share driver, police say | Tacoma News Tribune

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Customer Service
    • About Us
    • Buy Photos and Pages
    • Contact Us
    • Plus
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Newsletters
    • Newspaper in Education
    • Subscribe
    • Subscriber Services
    • Archives

    • News
    • Crime
    • Databases
    • Education
    • Government & Politics
    • Local News
    • Nation & World
    • Military
    • Traffic
    • Watchdog
    • Weather
    • Blogs & Columns
    • Matt Driscoll
    • Sports
    • College
    • High School
    • Mariners
    • Preps Stats
    • Seahawks
    • Sounders
    • Tacoma Rainiers
    • UW Huskies
    • Blogs & Columns
    • Dave Boling
    • Huskies Insider Blog
    • John McGrath
    • Mariners Insider Blog
    • Seahawks Insider Blog
    • Sounders Insider Blog
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Consumers
    • People in Business
    • New Businesses
    • Port of Tacoma
    • Real Estate
    • Opinion
    • Cartoons
    • Editorials
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Op-Ed
    • Opinion Columns
    • Submit a Letter
    • Living
    • Fitness
    • Food & Drink
    • Home & Garden
    • Religion
    • Entertainment
    • Arts & Culture
    • Comics
    • Puzzles & Games
    • Events Calendar
    • Horoscopes
    • Movies
    • TNT Diner
    • Outdoors
    • Fishing
  • Obituaries

    • The Olympian
    • The Peninsula Gateway
    • The Puyallup Herald
    • Northwest Guardian
    • NIE
    • KIRO7

  • Classifieds
  • Place An Ad
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Cars
  • Homes
  • Mobile & Apps

Crime

Pimp claimed he was ride-share driver, police say

By Kenny Ocker

kocker@thenewstribune.com

    ORDER REPRINT →

March 31, 2016 08:16 AM

A man who dropped off a 17-year-old girl at a fast-food restaurant for a date with what turned out to be an undercover officer told Lakewood police he drove for a ride-sharing service, according to court documents.

Pierce County prosecutors charged him with being the teen’s pimp.

Terence Franklin Hopwood, 41, of Renton was arraigned Wednesday in Pierce County Superior Court on charges of promoting commercial sex abuse of a minor and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

Judge Kitty-Ann van Doorninck set bail at $300,000.

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to The News Tribune

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

According to court documents:

A detective was tipped off that the girl, a runaway from Portland, was suspected of working as a prostitute in Pierce and King counties. He also was given her listing on Backpage.com, which provided her phone number.

The detective set up a “date,” meeting Tuesday at the fast-food joint before going to an area hotel, where officers arrested the teen after she took off her shirt and asked for her “donation.”

Hopwood was waiting nearby between his SUV and the restaurant when police arrested him and found a .40-caliber pistol in a holster he was wearing.

Hopwood initially said he was an Uber driver who gave the girl a ride from Seattle to Tacoma. He changed his story when asked if he had the ride-sharing app on his phone. He then said he was giving a friend a ride, before admitting he was a felon.

He gave his phone to detectives, who found a message about the girl’s date with the detective and the same photos that were on her Backpage.com profile.

Hopwood has felony convictions for third-degree assault and taking a motor vehicle without permission. That makes it illegal for him to carry a weapon.

Kenny Ocker: 253-597-8627, @KennyOcker

  Comments  

Videos

Tim Eyman under investigation in theft of chair from Lacey Office Depot

Tacoma gang member accused of whipping girlfriend for 14 hours appears in court

View More Video

Trending Stories

‘Uncertainty’ about whether snow is coming back to the lowlands this week, or just rain

February 18, 2019 10:20 AM

Dad accused of beating 11-year-old girl with belt, golf club for taking extra food

February 18, 2019 09:39 AM

Vote for this week’s best South Sound area high school performances from boys and girls basketball

February 18, 2019 02:23 PM

New Beefy’s Burgers opening on 6th Ave in Tacoma

February 18, 2019 11:00 AM

Full list of Washington state boys and girls high school regional basketball pairings

February 19, 2019 11:32 AM
Local display advertising by PaperG

Read Next

Eyman lawyers say Office Depot chair removal was accident, but he faces theft charge
Video media Created with Sketch.

Crime

Eyman lawyers say Office Depot chair removal was accident, but he faces theft charge

By Abby Spegman

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 19, 2019 04:00 PM

Attorneys for Tim Eyman, the anti-tax activist and initiative promoter who is accused of stealing a $70 chair from an Office Depot store in Lacey last week, say it was an accident, not theft.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to The News Tribune

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE CRIME

4th suspected gang member arrested in connection with shooting death outside Lakewood club

Crime

4th suspected gang member arrested in connection with shooting death outside Lakewood club

February 19, 2019 09:23 AM

Crime

After eating meth, Bonney Lake man’s bizarre behavior forced a plane to land, records say

February 19, 2019 10:19 AM

Crime

Dad accused of beating 11-year-old girl with belt, golf club for taking extra food

February 18, 2019 09:39 AM
Sex offender registrations in Pierce County

Crime

Sex offender registrations in Pierce County

February 17, 2019 12:00 AM
Police Beat: Breaking and laundering, a missing cat, and a snowy hit-and-run

News Columns & Blogs

Police Beat: Breaking and laundering, a missing cat, and a snowy hit-and-run

February 16, 2019 12:44 PM
Behavioral health bills would restrict placements of violent offenders

Politics & Government

Behavioral health bills would restrict placements of violent offenders

February 15, 2019 05:35 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Tacoma News Tribune App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Rewards
  • Pay Your Bill
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Photo Store
  • Archives
Advertising
  • Information
  • Place a Classified
  • Local Deals
  • Place an Obituary
  • Today's Circulars
  • Special Sections
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story