A Broward Sheriff's Office operation to crack down on human trafficking led to charges for two men accused of disturbing crimes.
Deavion McClendon, 21, and Randall Taylor, 38, are facing charges in "Operation Suite 16," a two-day crackdown on human trafficking, BSO officials said Thursday.
McClendon had been identified as a possible human trafficker and was tracked down on Aug. 22 to a hotel in Dania Beach, where detectives found him dropping off a victim, officials said.
Detectives approached McClendon, who got back in his vehicle and drove at the detectives, hitting several patrol cars with officers inside, officials said.
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He was taken into custody and in addition to a felony warrant for auto theft, is facing aggravated battery on law enforcement and fleeing and eluding.
Taylor had already been the subject of a long-term investigation after detectives determined he'd been targeting young women and teenagers who were homeless or who were experiencing substance abuse problems, officials said.
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Officials said he leveraged their drug addictions by coercing the victims to perform sex acts for money, sell drugs and commit fraud.
The victims lived with Taylor in deplorable conditions and gave him the proceeds from their commercial sex activities, authorities said.
Taylor faces charges that include sex trafficking, labor trafficking, deriving support from proceeds of prostitution, human trafficking of a minor and aggravated manslaughter.
The aggravated manslaughter charge relates to the overdose death of a 16-year-old girl in October 2019, officials said.
He was already in federal custody and once his sentence is completed, he's expected to face the new charges in Broward.
During the operation, 14 adult victims were contacted and offered services including food, lodging, medical services, drug rehabilitation, counseling/therapy, childcare, education and employment assistance, officials said.
The operation also yielded leads for detectives on additional human trafficking suspects, which could result in further charges and arrests.
