July Trial Set for Man Accused of Pimping Teen

A jury trial is set for next month for a 27-year-old Tacoma man suspected of burglarizing a University Place home and promoting a 16-year-old girl to prostitute herself.

Blake Logen Fuerst was arraigned May 23 in Pierce County Superior Court on suspicion of residential burglary and second-degree promoting prostitution. He is being held on $15,000 bail.

According to charging papers, University Place Police arrested Fuerst on May 21 after they interviewed the girl whom they believe he was pimping.

Neighbors saw two men running from a house in the 8800 block of Colgate Drive West that day. One of the neighbors chased one of the men but couldn’t catch him, and the burglars drove away in a black truck, court papers said.

Police arrived shortly afterward and searched the house. In the yard, they found a cell phone and a piece of mail with Fuerst’s name, according to court documents. They also found a single marijuana plant inside the home.

The home’s owner–James Floss—returned. Police asked if he knew anyone who would break into the house and take the buds off the marijuana plant, but not take any electronics or other items.

“He said that he had paid a female to have sex with him two days prior at his residence,” according to court papers.

The girl contacted him that same day, asking if he wanted to go shopping. They met at the Tacoma Mall. He told police that he wanted to go back to his home, but she “kept finding other things to talk about,” according to court documents.

Floss told police that they stopped at a convenience store and he went inside to get some drinks. When he returned, she was gone, so he returned home.

Officers quickly located the pickup truck in which the burglars drove away, and Fuerst was the driver. The 16-year-old girl was riding with him.

According to court papers and police reports, the girl told police that she was a prostitute. She had met Fuerst at the Tacoma Mall and returned to his home, where they had sex. She told him she was 19.

“She had been staying with Fuerst, and she requested his help and his friends’ help to set up a website to get customers whom she could have sex with,” according to court papers. “She said she agreed to give them all or part of the money in exchange for a place to stay and security.”

Over the previous two weeks, she had sex with numerous men in Fuerst’s apartment, police said. She told police she met Floss via an Internet posting, according to court papers. At his home, he offered her beer and marijuana, even showing her the plant. Once she was back with Fuerst and some other men, they discussed burglarizing the victim’s house while he was away, court documents said.

Police interviewed Fuerst, who told them that he had been involved with the planning and execution of the burglary. He said the girl would have men come over, and he would leave because “it didn’t feel right.”

He claimed another person was involved in pimping the girl.

“He admitted talking about burglarizing the residence, but said he did not want to be involved, but changed his mind,” court papers state. “He said he dropped off two other males at the victim’s residence and drove around waiting for them to be done. When he found they had been spotted he took off without picking up either one.”

Fuerst could not explain how a piece of his mail was found in Floss’ front yard.

University Place Police Chief Rusty Wilder said authorities don’t believe Fuerst to be part of a larger prostitution ring.

“We think it’s just a local relationship developing at this point,” he said.

The girl was arrested and taken to Remann Hall, a juvenile detention center in Tacoma.