Police Version of Moses' Arrest Differs From That of Hurdler

Los Angeles police said Wednesday that their version of Edwin Moses’ arrest for soliciting prostitution is much different than the one told by the two-time Olympic gold-medal winning hurdler.

Moses, 29, was arrested at 3:17 a.m. Jan. 13 after a street-corner encounter with a female vice officer. He pleaded innocent to the misdemeanor charge Tuesday and faces trial Feb. 8.

Moses’ representatives have said the woman beckoned to him, then approached his car and asked if he had money. Moses’ agent, Gordon Baskin said the day after Moses was arrested that Moses had replied that he had $100 but then laughed and driven away.

Police said Wednesday that they gave prosecutors a transcript of notes of a conversation between Moses and the officer. They also said that Moses drove up to the woman on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Genesee Avenue and solicited an act of sex for money.

Concerned about allegations of entrapment, police said that the female officer did not wave or make any initial move toward Moses, and that she was not dressed in provocative clothing typical of the prostitutes in the area.

“She was dressed in normal street clothing for a woman living and working in the area,” police spokesman Rod Bernsen said.

Officer Sergio Diaz said that the transcript was made by officers listening to the conversation between Moses and the woman, who had a hidden microphone. Diaz said, however, that officers do not tape-record such conversations.