By Larry Altman DAILY BREEZE
Police arrested five women and issued 17 citations during surprise inspections Thursday to ensure three massage businesses in Gardena were operating legally.
Gardena police officers and state officials showed up unannounced about 2 p.m. at the businesses to determine if masseuses and other employees held proper city licenses to perform rubdowns and other services, and that their employers were adhering to city and state laws.
At one business — Seoul Health Spa at 15212 S. Western Ave. — police found six women hiding in a rear room, apparently lying low while police were making inspections, Detective Pam Robinson said.
Four of the women carried no identification and were arrested. A woman without identification at Sun Accupressure, 14129 S. Van Ness Ave., also was taken into custody.
Police also inspected Fantastic Nails and Spa at 1719 W. Artesia Blvd.
“It’s to protect the workers and to make sure the people who go into these places for a massage actually get a massage,” Gardena City Prosecutor Joan Stein Jenkins said.
Unlike some other operations, investigators Thursday did not conduct undercover stings to check if sexual favors were being performed at the businesses.
Instead, police checked employees for permits, and state employment officials made sure owners kept proper logs of their employees, paid them and made sure no child labor laws were violated.
State authorities also examined records to make sure the businesses paid for workers’ compensation insurance and payroll taxes.
Officials said the inspections are the first step to reduce illegal activity, including prostitution and indentured servitude that sometimes occurs in massage businesses.
At Seoul Health Spa, a woman working the counter welcomed police when they entered, saying she hadn’t seen them in a long time.
The business, with 12 massage rooms, a sauna, whirlpool baths, exercise equipment, big-screen televisions and recliners, appeared cleaner than some restaurants.
“Here only health massage. Many American people like this health massage,” the female owner told a reporter.
However, police quickly found two masseuses working at the time who did not have permits to work in Gardena, police said.
Each woman — one of whom had to wash oil from her hands to pull out her identification — received a ticket and order to appear in court.
One woman held a permit in Los Angeles, but she needed one in Gardena to meet the requirement, police said.
Then, more than an hour after they arrived, officers found six female employees in a locked back room, police said.
The women had tried to keep quiet to remain undetected while police were in the building, Robinson said.
For each woman cited, the owners received a citation.
“It’s always the, oh, shock, ‘We didn’t know you wanted to talk to them,’ ” Robinson said.
A misdemeanor fine for conducting a massage in Gardena without a permit can be up to $1,000, Stein Jenkins said.
Besides employee records, police examined the businesses for such things as unlocked doors to massage rooms (which are required) and employee attire (masseuses must wear smocks, not thongs and miniskirts).
Sun Accupressure’s owner received a citation for a locked front door, Robinson said.
In the past, police have found massage businesses to be fronts for prostitution. Some immigrant employees work as indentured servants to the business owners.
“You have to make sure these workers are there of their own free will,” Stein Jenkins said.
One customer said he was surprised by all the police attention as he scurried away from Seoul Health Spa.
“I take bath and take massage,” he said. “There is nothing illegal.”
Police in other South Bay cities have targeted massage business. Inglewood police cited 41 people at nine businesses in a similar operation in February 2005.
Redondo Beach police arrested six women at massage clinics in December 2004 when they offered more than a back rub to undercover officers seeking massages.
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