Valerie VanAntwerp learned prostitution isn't a victimless crime when a man and woman beat her after she complained about the trade. Atlanta police charged a woman Wednesday in last Thursday's attack on VanAntwerp and were still looking for the man. VanAntwerp, 33, said the crime made her more careful about her Adair Park neighborhood in south Atlanta.
Atlanta Police Officer Curtis Davenport said Myeshia Harris, 19, was arrested in a southeast Atlanta house early Wednesday on aggravated assault charges. Harris has previous arrests in Fulton County on charges of writing bad checks and disorderly conduct, but the county jail's website shows no record of charges of prostitution.
Davenport said police expect to capture the man, whose name he did not release. VanAntwerp said she has always been frustrated by the prostitution on Metropolitan Parkway -- which is known as a longtime gathering spot for hookers -- that is the east border of Adair Park. Last week, she was walking home on the street at 11 p. VanAntwerp decided to say something.
VanAntwerp said she walked off, and the woman followed, cussing and calling someone on her cell phone. Suddenly the woman knocked her down and a silver sedan pulled up. A man got out and started beating VanAntwerp with a bottle that was in a bag or sock, bruising her back, legs and head and giving her a black eye. VanAntwerp's fiance, Jay Melton, and two friends arrived minutes later and found her sitting in the street, stunned and unable to walk.
They spotted the woman across the street and dialed But police say it took 12 minutes for the dispatcher to send a patrolman. By then the woman was gone. Melton later e-mailed Maj. Reginald Mitchell, who oversees the police zone, to say he was concerned about the response time -- especially since the dispatcher had been told that one of the attackers was still there. But Melton and VanAntwerp said the patrol officer -- who arrived four minutes after the dispatcher called -- quickly assisted them, and the investigator made the assault a priority.
