Thanks to the gut feeling of two Lincoln Supercuts employees, Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputy Eric Cephus is behind bars.

Cephus is accused of kidnapping and molesting a 13-year-old girl at Lincoln’s Holiday Inn Express on Feb. 27

Supercuts employee Jeanne Proschole said she is “proud” of her co-worker Irene Rios’ actions involving the 13-year-old girl on Feb. 27.

The girl walked into Lincoln Supercuts on Ferrari Ranch Road around noon that Saturday, asking for a phone book so she could “catch a cab,” according to Rios.

“She looked a little young to be calling for a cab,” Rios said on Tuesday. “She didn’t know what town she was in.”

Rios described the girl as being respectful and carrying a plastic grocery bag with a change of clothes.

The girl told Rios she was 17-years-old, according to Rios, which prompted Rios to ask the girl more questions.

Rios asked where her parents were, where she was from and why she wanted a cab. The girl told Rios that she was trying to get to Watt Avenue in Sacramento, according to Rios.

“The more questions she (Rios) started asking, the more I thought it was fishy,” Proschole said. “I think she was scared. When Irene was asking her the questions, it seemed like she was at ease.”

Proschole said the girl “seemed disoriented, like she was drugged.”

Rios said she tried to leave work that day and “forget about it.”

“It bothered me so much that I turned around and called the Lincoln PD,” Rios said. “I felt the most sickening screaming feeling inside, liked if we hadn’t done anything, we would have seen her dead in the newspaper.”

Rios said the girl was still at Supercuts when the police arrived.

“She went willingly with the cops,” Proschole said. “I’m so proud of her (Rios) because she could have saved other little kids from going through this.”

According to Lincoln acting Police Chief Paul Shelgren, Cephus has a home in Lincoln Crossing “that he lived or stayed at.”

The News Messenger talked to Theresa Gneiting, a Lincoln resident who said she was Cephus’ neighbor for about three years.

Gneiting described Cephus as a “very nice neighbor,” who she would talk to if he was doing yard work or washing the car.

“I was very surprised,” Gneiting said, when asked what she thought about the allegations made of Cephus.

Cephus pleaded not guilty March 4 to charges of kidnapping and committing a lewd act with a child under the age of 14 in an Auburn courtroom.

Deputy public defender Chris Fishburn entered a not guilty plea on behalf of Cephus.

Cephus, a 39-year-old part-time Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputy, was arraigned on charges of kidnapping and committing a lewd act with a child under the age of 14.

Cephus was arrested at his San Jose home March 2, for allegedly sexually molesting a 13-year old girl at the Holiday Inn Express in Lincoln.

“We believe she voluntarily went with the suspect, but whether she went to Lincoln against her will is still being investigated,” Shelgren said.

When asked if the lewd act was forced, Shelgren said “we’re not getting into those details because we don’t want the investigation to be compromised.

Judge Colleen Nichols ordered Cephus to have no contact with the victim in any way, including letters, text messages or third-party messages.

Nichols set the bail for Cephus at $1 million, and he is housed at the Placer County Jail where he has been since March 3.

Fishburn had no comment after the arraignment, saying that he would “probably not be the attorney assigned to the case.”

“We have a unit that handles these types of cases and I’m not in it,” Fishburn said.

When asked if the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department had a statement regarding Cephus, public information officer Tim Curran said Cephus is on “unpaid administrative leave.”

Cephus is still considered an employee, according to Curran.

The News Messenger asked Lincoln residents in front of the Holiday Inn Express last week what they thought of what had happened at the hotel between Cephus and the girl.

“It’s disgusting,” Sonny Eskridge said.

Eskridge was at the hotel visiting his children’s grandparents. “It’s really scary when you can’t trust the police.”

Dori Ayala said she “thought it was strange” that the 13-year-old didn’t say anything to hotel employees.

“We’re telling children to obey the police,” Ayala said. “She was probably intimidated and felt compelled to go with him and not say anything.”