Summer nights bring seedy street life

Deepa Bharath

Police arrested an alleged prostitute along with 14 men and one woman

on suspicion of soliciting an act of prostitution the weekend of June

13 in a sting conducted by undercover detectives, officials said

Monday.

Costa Mesa sees a marked increase in prostitutes loitering on

Harbor Boulevard and so-called customers scouring the area seeking

their services during the summer months, Costa Mesa Police Lt. John

FitzPatrick said.

“The nights get longer and warmer,” he said. “It’s a seasonal

problem for us.”

It was becoming a nuisance for area businesses, especially motels,

FitzPatrick said. So detectives targeted the stretch of Harbor

Boulevard between Gisler Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard, where the

problem seemed to be rampant, he said.

“That’s because that area has easy access to the [San Diego]

freeway,” FitzPatrick said.

Police arrested the following people on suspicion of soliciting an

act of prostitution: Pablo Luna, 35, Ignacio Santillan, 35, Rafael

Rosas, 41, Jose Serrano, 23, Marianao Guzman, 34 -- all of Costa

Mesa; Norberto Castaneyra, 27, Jose Gomez, 33, both of Santa Ana;

William Dawes, 55, of Irvine, Ivan Rios, 18, of Anaheim, Juan Lopez,

35, of Stanton, Frank Angel, 44, of Garden Grove, John Johnston, 38,

of Los Angeles, Jeff Murray, 35, of Placentia, Roberto Ampudia, 34,

of Laguna Niguel and Amy Davis, 24, of San Diego. Constance Fortune,

19, of San Diego was arrested on suspicion of loitering for

prostitution, FitzPatrick said.

Female detectives, masquerading as prostitutes, set the trap for

those soliciting such acts during the sting, he said.

“It’s a dangerous operation,” he said. “But it’s something we plan

on continuing through the summer.”

Many of the women are on a circuit and move from one city to

another depending on the weather, FitzPatrick said.

“They come here from different parts of the country like Texas,

Florida and Georgia,” he said. “May to September are our busiest

months when we constantly deal with this issue.”

In August 2002, police arrested five prostitutes on a Monday night

near Harbor and MacArthur boulevards.

Former City Councilwoman Linda Dixon said she remembers discussing

the issue with fellow council members and city officials.

“It’s been an ongoing problem for many years,” she said. “We’ve

tried special enforcement and undercover officers to deal with it.

But it goes away for a while and eventually creeps back into town.”

Dixon said listing the names not only of the alleged prostitutes

but those accused of soliciting such acts turns out to be a

deterrent.

“No one wants to see their name associated with something like

this,” she said.

That stretch of Harbor Boulevard has gained notoriety over the

years, FitzPatrick said.

“Everyone knows about that area,” he said. “The number of people

we’ve arrested over one weekend speaks for itself. And they’re not

just from Costa Mesa. They’re from all over the county and from as

far as Los Angeles and San Diego.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or at [email protected].