The book signing launch party for “Off The Street” is scheduled for Friday September 2, 2011 at 5-7pm. The location is appropriately right in downtown Las Vegas at 111 Las Vegas Blvd S. It is open to the public and no charge. This book is the first effort from Las Vegas Detective Chris Baughman.
First-time author Det. Chris Baughman moved to Las Vegas at age 9, and during the next 10 years experienced life in the rougher sections of town. Never jaded, Baughman followed his instincts for justice – and his father’s encouragement – joined the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department at age 24.
A Rancho High School graduate, Baughman has investigated and arrested a number of his former classmates during his time with “PIT”. Det. Baughman is a Vice Detective and is now as a member of the Pandering Investigation Team (“PIT”).
“Off the Street” (set for release Sept. 1) is the first-time author Det. Christopher Baughman’s combined battle cry and warning to all men who are abusers of women, who force them into lives of prostitution, and turn them into commodities for their personal gain.
“Off the Street” is the true story of the first case by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s Pandering Investigation Team (“PIT”) and how Det. Baughman and his small team of detectives made themselves known throughout Las Vegas, and the country, as an unstoppable force in pandering cases.
Beaten with an aluminum baseball bat and partially drowned over the course of two days, Tiffany’s story is brought to Baughman and his team from the department’s Domestic Violence Unit as one of the most horrific cases on record. Baughman, along with two dedicated detectives, sets out on a journey to gain the trust of the victim and her friend, Sarah and gather evidence against pimp Anthony Smith. They discover his reach spreads farther across the Las Vegas Valley than any of them originally thought possible.
The evidence here is all factual. Baughman’s accounts of events are true. The detectives’ names are accurate. The criminals are real. Only the names of the victims have been changed, as Baughman’s sole purpose is to protect those who have been abused and mentally beaten by pimps who throw cash, luxury cars, mansions, diamonds, and women around like spoiled children in a toy store.
“Off the Street” is more than a case study. It is Baughman’s life story, chronicling his days growing up in Las Vegas’ roughest neighborhoods to a life of civic duty and how he bucked the system and escaped his neighborhood only to return to better it. Through flashbacks, readers come to know Baughman as more than just another do-gooder; in true movie fashion, he becomes the reluctant hero, knowing the only way to save his “Queens” from this nightmarish life is to strategically place light in all the dark spaces and raise awareness to this fast-growing problem.
In fact, raising awareness is exactly why Baughman wrote “Off the Street”. Det. Baughman’s aim is to educate women and families everywhere on how easy it is for unknowing women to fall victim to the seemingly “glamorous” life of prostitution and the preyingpimps who run it.
– Bob Thomas
