Orlando SentinelA Palatka police detective who ran for Putnam County sheriff was arrested during a St. Johns County weekend prostitution sting and has resigned, authorities said.
Reno Chevelle Fells, 48, resigned from the department Sunday, said Assistant Chief James Griffith of the Palatka Police Department.
On Friday, Fells responded to an online posting that was part of the four-night Operation Summer Lovin’ that included investigators advertising sex for money, said Cmdr. Chuck Mulligan of the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.
Mulligan said those who responded to the offer were directed to a hotel in the St. Augustine Beach area.
“Mr. Fells arrived at the room,” Mulligan said. He was arrested once he arrived.
Fells was a Palatka police commander who resigned to run in the 2012 sheriff’s race, then returned to the department as a detective, Griffith said. Fells was defeated in the 2012 Democratic primary.
Griffith received a call from Fells about 3 a.m. Saturday, within six hours of Fells’ 10 p.m. Friday arrest. He was placed on administrative leave then resigned after meeting with department administrators, Griffith said.
He was released on $500 bail.
Fells began his career as a school resource and corrections officer for the Putnam Sheriff’s Office in 1988. In 1997 he started with the Palatka police and rose to operations commander. After his sheriff’s candidacy, he was rehired in December 2013 as a Palatka police detective.
The Summer Lovin’ operation ran Wednesday through Saturday and was conducted by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and St. Augustine Beach Police Department.
The operation had two parts, Mulligan said, and was a response to St. Augustine Beach hoteliers complaining about prostitution being arranged on social media sites and at the businesses.
First, undercover officers acted as possible clients and met with suspects through online contacts. In the second phase investigators posted solicitations offering services and people were directed to the hotel.
Mulligan said 14 people were arrested in the case.
Suspects were charged with prostitution or procurement for prostitution or soliciting a prostitute.