On Wednesday, April 29, the San Bernardino Police Department carried out what many considered to be a long-overdue operation to interrupt and definitively shutter vice activity at the spot which serves as the world’s primary window on not just the county seat but San Bernardino County as a whole.
Exit 44a off of the I-215 Freeway brings travelers to the very heart of San Bernardino, which is encapsulated in the California Department of Transportation sign heralding “5th Street” and “Civic Center,” along with the symbol for Route 66. That attracts those who have come from other areas of the United States who might want to see the storied and historic local for its own sake and reputation. The In-N-Out Burger, Starbucks, Sonic Drive-In, Del Taco, Panda Express and 7-Eleven that are all prominently visible along the first two blocks on the east side of the freeway also serve as an inducement for travelers to exit there.
Very close by, less than a full city block north of 5th Street and south of 6th Street, at the northwest corner of H Street and the minor arterial Spruce Street West is the Sunshine Hotel at 570 North H Street.
The Sunshine Hotel, like the Golden Star Inn, located roughly an eighth of a mile west at 658 5th Street, is a motel that has been upgraded by the hospitality venue booking industry as a variously-rated two-star or three-star “hotel,” but which more than a generation ago had become a contact point between those in the illicit street drug-selling trade and a venue for prostitution as much as a place for travelers to spend the night. The presence of the Sunshine Hotel and the Golden Star Inn at the gateway to San Bernardino, both between four and seven blocks away from San Bernardino City Hall, the Guatemalan and Mexican consulates and six and eight blocks from the campus for the San Bernardino County’s government center/administrative headquarters and both of San Bernardino County’s historic and primary courthouses, have been a major embarrassment to both county and city officialdom and have served as an unintentional metaphor what is widely considered to be governance steeped in corruption.
On April 29 at around 5 p.m., a contingent of police, more than half of them traveling in armored vehicles, rolled up into the inadequately-sized parking lot of the Sunshine Motel and disembarked. Chaperoned by Police Chief Darren Goodman, the officers spread quickly around the premises, splitting into teams of five or six men and women decked out in flak gear. After the electricity to the rooms was cut off at the circuit breaker panel for the entire hotel, heavy knocks were, by a coordinated signal, made, together with demands that the doors be opened. If or when the occupants of the rooms did not immediately comply with commands that they open the door, the officers, at liberty to do so because their superiors were armed with a court-issued across-the-board warrant, used battering rams to bash them in. The officers would then sweep into the rooms, forcing the occupants, with their hands held high, to exit. Most, though not all, of those forced into the glaring sunlight were young or youngish women. A law enforcement helicopter circled the scene, videotaping the operation while an observer stood at the ready to alert those on the ground if anyone on the hotel property sought to slip away.
The upshot was, based upon a statement issued by Goodman at 7:39 p.m. that evening, “Just a few hours ago, multiple units from the San Bernardino Police Department served a search warrant at the Sunshine Motel in the 500 block of North ‘H’ Street. Prostitution, human trafficking, pimping & pandering, were all happening at the Sunshine Motel. Today, we shut it down. Crooks arrested and hotel red-tagged. Prey on the weak, victimize people in our city, we will come after you, and put you in jail!”
The red tagging served as a formal designation by the city’s building and safety division that the two-story, 22-unit structure is unsafe or non-compliant with building codes and therefore prohibited from being occupied until necessary repairs or compliance measures are completed. Cited in the structure shuttering were unsafe wiring, a lack of safety equipment including smoke detectors, and illegally fortified doors, all of which entail a fire hazard, and unspecified health code violations.
Because the police department last year as of the end of June discontinued posting its daily arrest logs, how many arrests were made on Wednesday and on what charges were unavailable as were the identities of those arrested. It was disclosed that the hotel manager was arrested on suspicion of felony pimping and pandering. While those authorized to speak for the police department assiduously avoided acknowledging or denying that any of the women at the hotel had been arrested on prostitution charges, available information was that the prostitutes’ pimps and customers involved at the Sunshine Hotel had been arrested during the operation previously. According to the department, its vice unit since January 1 has made 21 felony arrests and 124 misdemeanor arrests. How many of the 21 felony arrests were of pimps and how many were of drug dealers has not been disclosed. Nor is it clear how many of the 124 misdemeanor arrests pertain to soliciting a prostitute and how many relate to drug purchases.
Based upon interviews and interrogations of pimps and customers as well as evidence suggesting the rooms were being rented by the hour, the police department believes the manager at the very least knew about the operation of prostitution rings on the hotel premises and was aiding them in eluding detection and arrest or was complicit in the pimps’ enterprises.
That prostitution was occurring at the Sunshine Motel and Gold Star Inn has long been recognized, with long-legged, hot pants-clad trollops parading back and forth across the entrances to their parking lots being a regular feature of both establishments and others in the area over the years. Testimonials to that reality are extant in the on-line reviews of the motels.
A post on Reservation Desk.com’s page for the Sunshine Motel dated December 2024 by “Mo,” who categorized himself as a “Solo Traveler” reads, “Wow, what a gem of a place! I thought I’d treat myself to a little rest before the drive back to Palm Springs from Los Angeles, but instead, I ended up in a scene straight out of a crime drama. I mean, who doesn’t love a little excitement, right? Picture this: I’m just trying to catch a few z’s, and what do I hear? Oh, just three police raids happening right next to my room! Nothing like a little live action to make you feel cozy. And let’s not forget the lovely ambiance provided by the local prostitutes and their, um, ‘business associates.’ Honestly, I was laying on the floor, praying for my life and hoping I’d make it out of there in one piece. There were like three or four rooms getting raided for drugs and felons, and I was just wishing for a miracle. I thought I was just going to crash for a bit, but it turned into a stay from hell. Who knew resting could be so thrilling?”
James, who stayed there as part of a young couple in April 2024 remarked “prostitution and drugs abound.”

In her review, Temerra, another solo traveler who stayed there in February 2024, said “The manager is a scam artist and is out to steal people’s money,” and offered the observation that “most of the guest were prostitutes.” In her size-up of the establishment, Temerra provided what might have been the unexplained grounds for the unspecified health and safety violations cited for the hotel’s redtagging. The rooms, she reported, “have roaches.”
Mich, a solo traveler who was there in October 2022, and Alayna, who was part of a group who stayed there in January 2022, both noted “stains on the sheets,” while Chrystalvand, a young couple who was there in August of 2021, noted that “There were multiple condom wrappers and a tampon applicator and wrapper behind the dresser and side tables” and “checkout was fast.”