SHERWOOD, Ark. – An open flashes outside The Daily Grind coffee shop in Sherwood.
“I love Sherwood,” owner Heaven McKinney says.
“The community has been very supportive.”
McKinney’s place doubles as a day spa with services for hair and nails only.
She says business was good, until a couple months ago, McKinney noticed her clientale underwent a makeover.
“More and more men,” McKinney says.
And, they were thirsty for more than coffee.
“I would say five or six guys walked in looking for this massage spot,” McKinney says.
Some of them, explicitly asking McKinney if she offered sexual favors.
“That’s when I was like, you know what, we need to call somebody,” McKinney says.
It didn’t take long to figure out, McKinney’s new customers were possibly confusing her day spa with her new neighbors:Tokyo Spa.
Police say they got several complaints about the tucked-away establishment, found facing away from Kiehl Avenue.
“A licensed business in the city of Sherwood for massage therapy, but nobody we found in the business was licensed as a therapist,” Lt. Michael Payne with Sherwood PD says.
An undercover operation confirmed what many suspected.
Officers arrested three women on prostitution-related charges Wednesday.
We visited the newly shut down business on Thursday.
We asked a man and woman coming out of the business whether they knew of any prostitution-related allegations or a police presence. The man and woman both said “No,” and appeared to have difficulty speaking English.
“I just knew,” McKinney says.
“I had a feeling.”
New neighbors, who rubbed this community the wrong way.
“This business wasn’t here long,” Lt. Payne says.
“And, any of those like it won’t be long here either.”
