Pimp pinched, shooting averted

Local law-enforcement agencies busted a small, roving prostitution ring allegedly organized by Tolliver McClenon, a 26-year-old man from Portland, Ore. He was arrested for felony pimping/pandering on Thursday (Oct. 14) during a joint investigation of the Chico Police Department, Butte County Sheriff’s Office, and the FBI Safe Streets Task Force. The operation was originally intended to locate runaway minors who might be caught up in similar activity.

According to the CPD, McClenon brought two women from Oregon for the sole purpose of prostituting them in various cities between Portland and Sacramento. However, three women, including one local resident, Awana Norman, 22, were cited and released. McClenon remains in Butte County Jail with bail set at $250,000.

In other cops news, CPD officers arrested a Paradise man who they saw was brandishing a small handgun outside Franky’s restaurant in the wee hours of Saturday morning (Oct. 16). Elisander C. Hernandez, 26, allegedly pulled the loaded weapon on a doorman who had detained another man after a fight in the parking lot.

According to a CPD press release, the scenario could have had a much more violent outcome: “Officers on scene reported that were it not for the large numbers of bystanders behind the suspect, this likely would have developed into an officer involved shooting situation.”