SAN LEANDRO — On the day before Valentine’s Day, police here raided a suspected brothel that was allegedly operating so efficiently area residents couldn’t help but notice what was going on.
According to San Leandro police, the investigation started from a civilian’s tip that said women were being dropped off during mornings, at a home on the 13900 block of Samoa Road, and that men were showing up for half-hour appointments throughout the day. Police reportedly surveilled the location and discovered the same thing: with two women already in the home, six men showed up within a three-hour period.
Officers followed one of the men leaving the location, pulled him over for a traffic violation, and got him to admit to paying $160 for prostitution services, police said. That led to a Feb. 13 raid on the home, where authorities found two women, one man suspected of running the operation, and three male customers, police said.
The alleged man in charge, 60-year-old Jianhua Chen, was charged with pimping and running a house of prostitution, both felonies. The two men are being treated by police as victims. Police have not released the names of the other three men arrested in the raid.
All three alleged participants in the brothel — the two women and Chen — allegedly confessed during police interviews after their arrest, authorities said in court records.
Chen has been released on his own recognizance — meaning he didn’t have to post bail — on the condition that he obey the law, stay away from the Samoa Road home, and keep at least 100 yards away from both women, court records show. Prosecutors did not object to his release.
Chen’s next court hearing, where he’s expected to enter a plea, has been set for Feb. 29.