Las Vegas man charged with sex trafficking girlfriend
A Las Vegas man is accused of kidnapping a woman and sex trafficking her along Tropicana Avenue and Boulder Highway, according to police reports.
An arrest report for Jacobi Lambert, 27, said an investigation resulting in his arrest started when police were called to a 7-Eleven in the 4800 block of West Tropicana on Jan. 19. Police were told a man was repeatedly punching a woman in the face and head inside the store in front of a clerk.
The woman told police that her boyfriend — whom she identified as Lambert — moved to Las Vegas in November and had been forcing her since then to be a prostitute.
“Since arriving in Las Vegas (the victim) has been earning money for Lambert and her to live off of through acts of prostitution,” an arrest report for Lambert states. “She works the ‘tracks,’ which include Boulder Highway and Tropicana Avenue, to find johns.”
The victim said “Lambert makes her give him all the money she earns through acts of prostitution,” according to the report. “Since arriving in Las Vegas she has earned and given him approximately $5,000.”
The woman told police she tried to leave Lambert several times and that she no longer wanted to work for him as a prostitute. She alleged that when she attempted to leave Lambert, he became “increasingly physically abusive to her” and had her cellphone turned off.
On the night of the assault at the convenience store, the woman said, the two argued over her not being allowed to have money or a working cellphone. She said during the argument he assaulted her twice inside a vehicle, then drove to the convenience store and assaulted her again in the parking lot before she got out of the car and ran into the store.
“Lambert went into the 7-Eleven after her, he approached her and knocked her to the ground, he then continued to punch her,” police wrote in an arrest report. “At one point an employee tried to intervene and Lambert lunged at the store employee. Before exiting the store he threw a counter display.”
Police said the woman told them Lambert “has threatened to kill her several times in the past when she has tried to leave him. He has also threatened to kill her daughter, harm her father and other family members.”
Las Vegas Justice Court online records indicate a criminal complaint was filed in the case charging Lambert with second-degree kidnapping and sex trafficking of an adult. Lambert is also being held as a fugitive from another state and faces a misdemeanor count in a separate case of being a convicted person failing to register with local law enforcement.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Tuesday. He remained in custody at the Clark County Detention Center as of Wednesday afternoon.
Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0390. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.