All lanes are blocked on northbound Highway 99 at Laguna Boulevard in Elk Grove this morning.

The center shoulder is being used to move traffic past a collision at 8:10 a.m. It is unknown when the southbound lanes will reopen.

The collision was reported to the California Highway Patrol at about 7:45 a.m. Details of the crash between a gray Honda Accord and a blue Chevrolet Camaro were not immediately available.

Sacramento County sheriff's deputies lead away two women arrested today after deputies raided the Great Value Inn on Watt Avenue. Deputies said the motel is a haven for prostitutes. Bee photo/Manny Crisostomo

By Kim Minugh
kiminugh@sacbee.com

Sacramento County sheriff's deputies arrested the manager of a North Highlands motel this afternoon for allegedly allowing prostitution to go on unchecked, according to authorities.

Arrested at the Great Value Inn on Watt Avenue was 26-year-old Ranil "Ron" Barma.

Deputies also have a warrant for the arrest of his brother, 25-year-old Ravnil "Neal" Barma; however, he was not at the motel today because he is reportedly on his way to Fiji, said sheriff's Sgt. Kate Adams.

Deputies also arrested four women on suspicion of prostitution and a man on an unrelated warrant, Adams said.

Deputies allege that the Great Value Inn is a notorious haven for prostitution and has been for years. Officials have been trying to work with the motel's owner and managers since the fall, Adams said, but without any success.

Today's action, she said, is meant to send a message to the motel's owner and to other motel owners that "this behavior won't be tolerated."

"Citizens of this area have tolerated this long enough," Adams said.

Standing outside a patrol car in handcuffs, Ranil Barma said he is aware of the prostitution problem and that he and his brother have tried to do something about it.

They try to scare off the prostitutes when they see what the women are up to, he said, but added that when they are renting out rooms, they can't know up front which are being rented for illegal business.

"I'm just doing my job," he told reporters.

Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038.

By Bee Staff

Sacramento County sheriff's deputies arrested at least six people in a prostitution sting, another of the department's attempts to shut down the Watt Avenue hooker stroll.

According to a crime summary released this week, deputies arrested at least six people on suspicion of prostitution and drug activity, including a 16-year-old girl, on April 13 near Watt and Orange Grove avenues.

Undercover officers were used as decoys to target street-level prostitution, the summary states. Some of the suspects were arrested at a motel along Watt.

Prostitution on Watt Avenue is a chronic problem, according to Bee reports and law enforcement activity.

Bee reporters have reported on prostitution busts on the street going as far back as 1988.

By Bee Staff

A man was arrested on suspicion of pimping and drug possession after a Roseville police officer followed up on a Craigslist ad of someone offering prostitution services in the Roseville area, according to a police spokeswoman.

Efrain Augustine Aguilar, 27, of Sacramento was booked into Placer County jail on Tuesday, jail records. He was being held on $25,000 bail.

The officer answered the ad and arranged to meet the suspect at a hotel, said Dee Dee Gunther, police spokeswoman.

When officers arrived, they also contacted Aguilar in an adjacent room, and suspected him of pimping (being financially supported by the prostitute's work), she said.

Aguilar also possessed methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, she said.

The suspected prostitute, a 46-year-old Sacramento woman, was issued a citation to appear on suspicion of prostitution and released at the scene, Gunther said.

From Kim Minugh

Roseville police arrested a 24-year-old man Monday on suspicion of pimping and pandering, according to authorities.

Eugene Lamar Corbett also was booked into the Placer County Main Jail for numerous outstanding warrants, said Roseville police spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunther.

About 12:30 a.m. Monday, a Roseville police officer pulled over Corbett on Fiddyment Road, near Pleasant Grove Boulevard, for vehicle equipment violations, Gunther said.

Two young adult women were in the car with Corbett, Gunther said, and a search of the car revealed evidence of prostitution activity. Corbett also had a large amount of cash in his pocket, Gunther said.

Corbett was arrested and booked on one count each of pimping, pandering, and driving with a suspended license, according to jail booking records. He also was booked on 11 outstanding Sacramento County warrants for driving without a license and evading transit fare, records show.

Corbett is being held in lieu of $40,329 in bail.

The two female passengers were not arrested, Gunther said.

From Cathy Locke

The Guardian Angels have announced that they will patrol a section of Watt Avenue near Interstate 80 tonight in an effort to combat prostitution in the area.

The Watt Avenue area has seen an increase in prostitution and drug paraphernalia in front of motels and along streets in the neighborhood, according to a news release from the Guardian Angels' Sacramento chapter. With cuts in Sacramento Sheriff's Department staffing, organization leaders said they want to provide "eyes and ears" to help deter such behavior.

The group will patrol the area from 5 to 9 p.m.

From Sarah Frier:

Twin Rivers detective Margueritte Dias wore big hoop earrings and a low, white tank top. She went by the name "Cici."

She was one of five detectives and deputies Thursday night posing as prostitutes on Watt Avenue so Sacramento County sheriff's personnel could arrest the "johns" -- men who pay prostitutes for sex. By midnight, they'd arrested about 16 men and one prostitute.

Dias' get-up must have been convincing, because a real prostitute approached and warned her that the cops were around, she said.

"I was like, 'Aw, shoot, girl.' " Dias said, getting into character. "We talk a little street talk."

She and others acting as prostitutes were hooked up to microphones so their transactions could be recorded. The johns were arrested once they arrived in a hotel room with the undercover officers.

Problem Oriented Policing operations, under which Thursday's sting operated, have resulted in about 260 prostitution-related arrests during the last year and a half, said Deputy Kate Adams, organizer of Thursday's operation.

The johns are charged with solicitation for prostitution and usually get about 10 days in jail and a fine and have their vehicles impounded, Adams said.

Going after sex customers is tougher than targeting the purveyors, she said.

"With this, we have to staff so many locations for safety," Deputy Thomas Lynn said as he monitored video of the room holding busted johns.

In addition to officers posing as prostitutes, more than 20 sheriff's personnel participated in the operation, making arrests, monitoring surveillance and ensuring the safety of undercover officers. They worked from 8:30 p.m. until 1 a.m., sustained by energy drinks and pizza. An operation targeting prostitutes usually involves about eight officers, Lynn said.

The program was response to complaints from South Watt Merchants business owners who said prostitutes have been using drugs in store bathrooms and keeping customers away, Adams said.

The Watt area is a hot spot for prostitution because of the inexpensive hotels and proximity to a light rail stop and freeways, Adams said.

Looming budget cuts could result in elimination of Problem Oriented Policing, Sheriff's Sgt. Tim Curran said.

"If they cut POP, this whole corridor is going to go sideways," Dias said.

From Sandy Louey:

Davis police on Thursday arrested the 50-year-old owner of a massage parlor on suspicion of prostitution.

Ping Li, owner of Spring 360 Massage, was booked and released and cited for the charge. The business is located in a commercial building at 132 E St., said Lt. Thomas Waltz said in a press release.

Thursday's operation was done with help from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Waltz said.

An undercover officer was sent into the business and Li, of Monterey Park, was arrested after she agreed to perform sexual acts in exchange for money, Waltz said.

Police said Li's arrest was part of an ongoing investigation into complaints about several massage parlors in Davis where sex acts were offered in exchange for money.

Waltz said a surveillance operation begun in mid-2007 found up to four massage parlors within a four-block area in downtown Davis was frequented exclusively by men.

Suspicions that acts of prostitution were occurring were strengthened after officers found remnants of sexual activity being deposited in a communal restroom near one of the businesses, he said.

Davis police said efforts will be made in upcoming weeks to work with the City Council to craft an ordinance that would protect legitimate massage therapy operations while regulating businesses that act as fronts for illegal activity.

From Art Campos:

Roseville police arrested 12 men on suspicion of soliciting for sex acts over the Internet during a recent sting operation.

Lt. Mike Doane said a woman undercover officer agreed online to meet the men at a hotel within the city. The men were arrested when they came to her room at staggered meeting times last Wednesday, he said.

"We want people to be mindful that we pay attention to illegal acts arranged through Internet dating," Doane said. "We don't want them using Roseville to commit these crimes."

Doane said the men were booked at the Roseville Police Department jail and most were released on a promise to appear for their court dates.

From Stan Oklobdzija:

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department conducted an undercover prostitution sting Thursday along Watt Avenue, according to sheriff spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran.

Eleven women were arrested on charges of prostitution and one man was arrested on charges related to pimping, Curran said. The operation was conducted by problem oriented police, or POP, officers from the department's Northwest Division.

"There has been an issue with prostitution in that area for many years and as the weather heats up, the problem becomes even greater," Curran said. "The POP guys wanted to hit it early ... to try to put a dent in the problem."

But the world's oldest profession is also apparently the world's most resilient. Sheriff's deputies had hit that same stretch of Watt Avenue just a week earlier, catching 12 suspected johns and seven alleged prostitutes in a similar operation.

By Ryan Lillis:

Sacramento sheriff's deputies arrested 12 johns and seven prostitutes during a sting operation Thursday night in North Highlands, officials said.

The operation was in response to ongoing quality-of-life complaints along Watt Avenue, between Interstate 80 and Myrtle Avenue, said sheriff's Sgt. Tim Curran.

Officers from the department's Northwest Division Problem Oriented Policing team and the Special Intelligence Investigations Bureau conducted the sting, Curran said.