Clayton News Daily

Huie Herosheio Pollard

By Kathy Jefcoats

kjefcoats@news-daily.com

Police and special agents found a 16-year-old runaway from Tennessee Thursday working as a prostitute in a Clayton County motel.

Authorities arrested a local man who knocked on the girl's motel room door while she was being questioned by law enforcement officers.

Agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Human Trafficking Unit got information that the girl, a ward of the state, was working in the Atlanta area as a prostitute, said GBI spokesman John Bankhead.

"Working with the GBI Intelligence Unit, and through the Human Trafficking Unit's investigation, HTU was able to verify the juvenile was being prostituted from a location in Clayton County," said Bankhead.

After authorities entered the girl's room, she was questioned by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Clayton County Police Department, he said. During the interview, her room phone rang, but she was not allowed to answer it. A man then knocked on her door.

Police identified the man as Huie Herosheio Pollard, 26, of Jonesboro, and determined he had outstanding warrants. As police tried to take him into custody, he became combative. Warrants issued against him allege Pollard spit and kicked at two Clayton County police officers.

Pollard is being held in the Clayton County Jail on $35,000 bond. He has a preliminary hearing set for Thursday on charges of simple battery on a police officer, obstruction of a police officer and terroristic threats. Bankhead said Pollard could face additional charges pending the outcome of an investigation.

Pollard has a long criminal history, according to court records. He spent almost two years in prison in 2004-2005 on drug charges, and again from 2007-2008, also on a drug conviction. Both were Clayton County cases. He was last released from state custody in December 2008.

Motel records show the girl had been a guest at the hotel for about 30 days. She was taken to the Metro Regional Youth Detention Center pending transport back to Tennessee. She waived extradition during a hearing Friday morning.