CHESAPEAKE, VIRGINIA – A Virginia Beach police sergeant has been accused of trying to buy sex. Chesapeake police say he tried to pick up a prostitute in the Greenbrier section of the city.
Chesapeake police routinely do these undercover prostitution stings every few months, but they never expected to catch a police officer from another department in their operation.
Chesapeake undercover officers set up their escort sting at a hotel on Crossways Road in Greenbrier.
According to police, five men fell for the trap; one of them was a Virginia Beach police sergeant.
Mark Vidrine, 49, who has been a Beach officer since 1995, was arrested on Friday night along with other men.
Detectives say in each case, the men arranged to meet with an undercover officer who they thought was a prostitute.
Conversations started on the Internet and moved to the phone where detectives say it was made clear the men wanted to have sex in exchange for money.
When the men showed up to the hotel rooms, detectives tell us the arrangement was again confirmed before arrests were made.
Vidrine and three others were from Hampton Roads but one man, Luis Solano Herrera, traveled all the way from Raleigh for the encounter.
Right now, the Beach sergeant is on administrative assignment pending the outcome of the investigation.
NewsChannel 3 went to his home on Independence Boulevard for comment but no one answered the door.
All five men have been charged with solicitation of prostitution and were given a summons to report to General District Court on these misdemeanor offenses.
