Cops: Hooker swipes $62G from boozy john

By Jessica Fargen

The lure of a $30 trick with a Lowell hooker ended up nearly costing one man more than $60,000 in cash, police said.

Jessica Garcia, 30, was released on personal recognizance yesterday after allegations that she agreed to perform oral sex on the drunken john for $30, but then tied him up and ran off with $62,000 in cash he kept in a duffel bag.

The man had been drinking cognac for several hours on Saturday night when he hopped on his bicycle, cash in tow, to search for a street walker, police said.

He solicited Garcia in front of 143 Westford St. and the pair snuck into the building’s basement, where Garcia was to be paid $30 for oral sex. Instead, she later told police she tied the man’s ankles together with a belt, pushed him over and grabbed the cash, said Lowell Police Capt. Deborah Friedl.

Garcia was arraigned in Lowell District Court yesterday on a charge of unarmed robbery. Garcia could not be reached for comment.

Police said the man had withdrawn $62,000 from six different credit cards, but it’s unclear why. He took the bag of cash with him for safe keeping. That decision, police said, was not a smart one.

“It doesn’t appear that was such a wise decision to take the cash with him and seek out the services of a prostitute while under the influence of alcohol . . . but it is still obviously a very serious incident,” Friedl said.

The man told police he was struck on the head and does not remember the robbery. After waking up, he said he went to a Lowell police station and reported the crime.

Police found Garcia and another man in the downtown Lowell Doubletree Hotel later that night with three stacks of bills totaling $44,521. Friedl said Garcia admitted to tying the man’s legs together and stealing the money.

Friedl said it’s unclear whether Garcia stashed the remainder of the money or whether the victim miscounted the bills before the robbery.