The portable bed frames outside the warehouse at 7954-E Twist Lane were the only sign that the premises were not occupied by an auto service shop in Fullerton Industrial Park as they claimed to be.
According to police, the site was being used as a house of prostitution stemming from their investigation that dated back to April 15, 2001. The nondescript location was at the end of Fullerton Industrial Park, which is full of trade-type businesses. The suspected prostitution dealings were conducted during the off-hours.
Sang Choice and Tuan Mai both worked at Choice Woodworking a few doors down. They had no idea of what was going on down there.
"They are a body shop. We don't know what goes on at night," Mai said.
"Last Friday, a lot of police, FBI," Choice added.
At another auto body shop next door, Manuel Colindres and Jose Penna didn't see anything, either.
"The place was closed all the time. We work from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. I don't know about the nighttime," Colindres said.
"Same cars all the time," Penna added, talking about the cars in disrepair that were parked out front.
An independent contractor, who chose not to give his name, was hired to clean out the space after the police got through. He and two co-workers wore rubber gloves the whole time and dumped mattresses in the Dumpster.
"The police had obviously been in here. It was a mess. I wanted to get the nasty stuff out of here. There was clothes, papers, just junk," he said.
There was an office and two wood-framed rooms left, as well as the Dumpster out back, which was full. On the floor by the back door was a pile of price lists for Chapin Auto Service. The address was 7954-E Twist Lane.
ACCORDING TO THE AFFIDAVIT, Fairfax County detective John Sterling conducted an investigation in 2001 of a robbery of Walfren Monroy, who identified himself as the business owner of 7644-C Fullerton Road and 7954-E Fullerton Road. In the course of the investigation, "Sterling observed homemade bedrooms, records and documents indicative of prostitution," at the 7644-C location, the warrant stated.
Another assault investigation occurred on July 14, 2001, at 7954-E Twist Lane, and the assault victim said there were prostitutes under Monroy's supervision, "at his other business," according to the affidavit. Monroy was interviewed by narcotics detective Jeremy Hinson, and "Walfren Monroy confessed that he was operating a bawdy place," at 7644-C Fullerton Road, the affidavit stated. A warrant was issued, and arrests were made at this location, which is two blocks from Twist Lane in the industrial park.
In May 2002, a "concerned citizen" contacted police and stated that 7954-E Twist Lane was involved with prostitution as well, which led to a police surveillance in September 2002, after business hours. "They observed a high volume of short-term traffic, consisting of male subjects coming and going," according to the affidavit. On Sept. 6, 20 to 30 male subjects arrived and left 20 minutes later, and this activity was repeated several times with different numbers of men throughout the month.
A trash bag contained four preprinted business cards with "a different female name written in ink on the back of each card and each card was hole-punched numerous times," it stated. That method of record keeping was similar to the prostitution operation uncovered at 7644-C Fullerton Road.
Monroy stated that he rented both locations. The record-keeping method was described in the affidavit as "the prostitutes are given individual business cards which are hole punched after the $30 is collected for the sexual act. At the end of the shift, the prostitutes present the hole-punched business card and are paid $15 each hole punch."
FOLLOWING THE SURVEILLANCE police arrested several individuals on Saturday, Sept. 21, charging them with various crimes associated with the bawdy house. According to police, Erika Torreblanca-Quiroz, 22, of 1011 University Blvd., in Langley Park, Md., was charged for forging a public document and keeping a bawdy house; Cornello Romero-Velasquez, 41, of 2200 Pimmit Run Lane, in Falls Church, for pandering and keeping a bawdy house; Mario Behena-Garcia, 51, of Kennedy Lane, McLean, for pandering and keeping a bawdy house; William Mercado, 22, of Kennedy Lane, McLean, for frequenting a bawdy house and possession of cocaine; Cristina Flores-Cuahintle, no fixed address, for prostitution; Rosanna Quintero, 25, of Sunnyside, N.Y., for prostitution; Hugo Rodriguez-Perez, 26, and Venito Valdez-Gonzalez, 19, both of Denfield Drive in Alexandria, for frequenting a bawdy house.
Fairfax County Police public information officer Jacqi Smith would not comment further on the case.
"Not while it's under investigation," Smith said.