ROCHESTER, MN - A recent string of prostitution busts in Rochester have law enforcement cracking down on one local business.
Back in March, an employee of China Massage was arrested for possible prostitution. And another arrest at the building was made in recent weeks.
Now, one city leader tells us there is still illegal activity going on at the massage parlor.
Rochester City Councilman Michael Wojcik sent out press release on Monday, focusing on the property owner of the building that house's China Massage, Dennis Weestrand.
"There's been a lot of prostitution arrests here in Rochester," said Wojcik.
Now, he's speaking out about the string of prostitution busts that have plagued Rochester in recent months.
"Approximately six months ago, a set of overnight stings found a couple of businesses that were basically dealing in prostitution," said Wojcik.
He said that the property owner of one of the businesses worked with law enforcement and immediately shut the business down.
But not everyone cooperated , and now China Massage, which is located in the Corporate Gardens LLC building in Southwest Rochester is under the microscope.
Wojcik said the property owner, Dennis Weestrand, isn''t working well with authorities.
"He actually told our police officers that times are tough and he's not willing to shut down the business," said Wojcik.
Wojcik said that at China Massage, things are just gettting worse.
"Two Thursdays ago we had a pretty serious prostitution arrest and have reason to believe that actually human sex trafficking is in play with that," said Wojcik.
He said other area businesses are feeling the consequences of China Massage's alleged illegal activity.
"There are some very good legitimate businesses in that building that are really hurting as a result of this as well," said Wojcik.
As a city leader, Wojcik says it's his responsibility to let people know what's going on in their community and believes a more permanent solution is needed to stop the growing problem.
"What we as a city have to do, is we identified that our ordinances regarding massage parlors are not near good enough and we are in the process of fixing that," said Wojcik.
He said it's up to members of the community to put the pressure on Weestrand to take action.
"Everyone needs to be giving Dennis Weestrand one message: shutdown China Massage now," Wojcik said.
Wojcik said that Weestrand is now agreeing to end China Massage's lease when it's up.
We did try contacting Weestrand but he did not return our calls.
