Raid on Kmart lot leaves shock

Houston Chronicle ^

[mindprism.com]

Aug. 19, 2002, 12:30PM

Raid on Kmart lot leaves shock, anger

Teenagers, parents question arrests of 425 outside store

By RON NISSIMOV

Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle

A crowd of angry teenagers and their parents accused police Sunday of arresting many innocent bystanders during an overnight raid on a west Houston parking lot where youths apparently congregate.

Scores of Houston police officers swarmed onto the Kmart parking lot in the 8400 block of Westheimer about 12:30 a.m. Sunday and arrested about 425 people for criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor.

Steve Campbell / Chronicle

Soneary Sy is overcome with emotion outside the police station as she waits for her son to be released. Sy said she waited all night for her 17-year-old son, a straight-A student, to come home.

Houston Police Department spokesman Martin DeLeon said many cars were towed.

DeLeon said business owners have been complaining about youths gathering on their parking lots on weekend nights and causing a

commotion.

DeLeon said he did not have more details about the incident because the two captains in charge of the raid, M.A. Aguirre and J.P.

Mokwa, were sleeping Sunday after working all night.

The Kmart store is open 24 hours a day, and many of the people at the HPD station at 61 Reisner said Sunday that

they had simply been shopping or eating at a Sonic drive-in restaurant that adjoins the discount store's parking lot when they were

arrested.

Kmart and Sonic supervisors referred all questions to their corporate headquarters, which were not open Sunday.

"We went to use the restroom at Kmart and to buy a Scrunchi (hair band), and when we came back to our car, cops were coming in (the

parking lot) and they tied our hands," said Brandi Ratliff, 18, who said she was a straight-A student at Waller High School and

never had any problems with the law.

Ratliff said that even though she and two friends told police they had just come out of the Kmart, all three were arrested and spent

the night in jail.

"It was traumatic," said a tearful Ratliff on Sunday morning after her parents drove from Stafford to pay her $300 bail at the

downtown city jail. "It was sick where they were holding us. A prostitute was fighting with another woman. The food they served was

food you would serve to a dog, not a human."

Ratliff and her two friends, Kris Karsteter, 21, and Kyesa Scott, 18, all had pink marks on their wrists from where they said police

had tied plastic handcuffs too tightly.

Scott said she didn't have the money to pay bail and so she pleaded guilty to avoid spending another night in

jail.

	alt="Ratliff" vspace="2"> Steve Campbell / Chronicle Brandi Ratliff, left, and Kyesa Scott, both 18, comfort each other after being released from police custody. "It was traumatic," Ratliff said of her arrest in a Kmart parking lot and a night in jail.

Emily Demmler, 19, said: "All I was doing was eating ice cream."

Demmler said the only trouble she'd previously had with authorities was being called into the principal's office twice in elementary

school for gossiping. She said she pulled her car into the Sonic lot shortly after midnight so she and her two friends could get

some ice cream after a night of karaoke.

After about five minutes, police "just swarmed," Demmler said.

"We thought we were in the middle of a drug bust, and we thought, `We're cool; we're not doing anything wrong,' " said Demmler, a

part-time lifeguard at the Jewish Community Center who is starting college this fall at the University of Houston.

Instead, all the patrons at the Sonic were ordered by police to march to the Kmart lot, where they joined throngs of other people

who were being arrested, she said.

"My purse and my friend's purse were still in the car ... but the cop wouldn't let me get them,"

said Demmler, whose mother eventually recovered her car and both purses.

"We asked police why we were being arrested, and they said, `Everybody is receiving equal treatment from the Houston Police

Department tonight.' It didn't matter what you were doing; they arrested you."

Demmler said many youths appearing to be 13 or 14 were arrested and taken to juvenile detention facilities, adding, "They even

arrested a 10-year-old girl who was having dinner with her father and took her to juvenile detention.

"She got separated from her father and I asked her how old she was, and she told me she was 10," Demmler said. "She was dazed."

	alt="map" vspace="2">

In a phone interview, Demmler claimed to have "huge marks on my arms" from tight handcuffs.

Leanne Williams said her 19-year-old son called her from jail and told her he showed police a receipt for bottled water from Kmart,

but he was still arrested.

She said her son called her five times from the downtown jail, but police still couldn't locate him at 11 a.m. because

his paperwork had been delayed.

"I gotta spend my Sunday at the jail searching for my son they can't find," said her husband, Jerome Williams.

Soneary Sy didn't know her 17-year-old son, a straight-A student, was arrested until he called her at 6 a.m.

"I didn't sleep all night waiting for my son to come home" said a sobbing Sy, a Cambodian immigrant who moved to Houston 22 years ago. "He tried to go to Kmart and as soon as he got to Kmart he was arrested."

[agitator]

can you say l-a-w-s-u-i-t ? I knew you could!

[My Favorite Headache]

U-N-R-E-A-L

[razorback-bert]

I used to live almost across the street from this.

[Thud]

Good thing your parents weren't there.

[Djarum]

Raid on Kmart lot leaves shock, anger
Raid on Kmart lot leaves shock, anger
Raid went to 'hell in a handbasket' Officers say Kmart bust was flubbed
Policing the police after Kmart raid

[niki]

Raid at hot dog joint preceded Kmart bust

[MissAmericanPie]

I would say shock is a normal reaction when a person is kidnapped and held for ransom.

[Dec31,1999]

Scores of Houston police officers swarmed onto the Kmart parking lot in the 8400 block of Westheimer about 12:30 a.m. Sunday and arrested about 425 people for criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor.

That's an awful lot of people to be shopping at KMart at that hour. If they were all shopping at KMart and ordering at Sonic, why would the mangagement of KMart or Sonic have complained to the police? They must have been raking it in hand over fist.

Leanne Williams said her 19-year-old son called her from jail and told her he showed police a receipt for bottled water from Kmart, but he was still arrested.

I always goes to KMart in the middle of the night for my bottled water. I just don't like the lack of selection at Circle K.

"They even arrested a 10-year-old girl who was having dinner with her father and took her to juvenile detention. "She got separated from her father and I asked her how old she was, and she told me she was 10," Demmler said. "She was dazed."

That happened to me once. I was with my ten-year-old daughter driving around in the middle of the night. She wanted some ice-cream, so I passed all the Circle K's and 7-11's and decided to stop at Sonic, even though there were 425 people hanging out and partying in the parking lot.

[A CA Guy]

Why not raid a hang out! This was a business doing business and gets costly for the owners.

Reminds me of how you get skateboarders in front of shops and they hurt themselves. Eventually the business can't get insurance and closes.

When your business forms loitering (sp) crowds, injury and lawsuits are coming at the store anyway.

Poor K-Mart was in a lose/lose situation here.

[Dec31,1999]

I used to live almost across the street from this.

What was it like?

[neutrino]

Thank you for the post. In a different thread, regarding the same incident, I asked some questions which you did not respond to. Perhaps you didn't notice them; therefore, for your greater convenience, I'll ask them again here.

I have a question...one asked in all seriousness. One of the offenses for which some were arrested was trespassing.

Let us suppose that I - on the wrong side of 40 by a large margin - take leave of my senses and go to a Kmart store that is open and doing business at 12:30 AM some Saturday. I walk in, look around, and don't find anything that I want. I then walk out.

Have I committed criminal trespass? Am I subject to arrest at this point?

Suppose that I notice Sonic, and decide to walk over to that establishment. I don't move my vehicle - in this scenario, it would still be in the Kmart parking lot. I purchase a food item and begin to consume it.

At this juncture, am I committing criminal trespass? Am I now subject to arrest?

I note that the Texas statute regarding criminal trespass makes no mention of the time. You may read it yourself HERE

Which begs the question - if I were to do any of the above listed acts at 2:00 PM on a Wednesday, would I not (per the standards of arrest apprarently followed by the Houston PD) be subject to arrest? Dare I go shopping...anywhere?

Thanks in advance for your insights.

Now, regarding your items in this thread:

You state in item #9 of this thread "That's an awful lot of people to be shopping at KMart at that hour. If they were all shopping at KMart and ordering at Sonic, why would the mangagement of KMart or Sonic have complained to the police? They must have been raking it in hand over fist. "

Quite possibly, they were coerced. Please note the thread of FR HERE

Also, it doesn't matter. If 424 of them weren't shopping, it doesn't make it legal (or morally just) to arrest the 425th one who was a legitimate customer.

You also mention in your item #9 "I always goes to KMart in the middle of the night for my bottled water. I just don't like the lack of selection at Circle K."

Clearly, the businesses involved believe that the level of business available at that hour justifies being open. One can only assume that someone does, in fact, purchase water or other goods at that hour. It may be that the businesses suffer from incompetent management - their Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing may be suggestive - but that doesn't matter either. They were open for business.

Lastly, you comment in your item #9 "That happened to me once. I was with my ten-year-old daughter driving around in the middle of the night. She wanted some ice-cream, so I passed all the Circle K's and 7-11's and decided to stop at Sonic, even though there were 425 people hanging out and partying in the parking lot. "

I am not aware of any law that prohibits such acts. You might wish to avoid San Antonio during Fiesta - a crowd exceeding 500,000 hangs out and parties along the river. Vendors even sell ice cream. Beer too.

[HiTech RedNeck]

I saw one site that alleged that plain clothes officers gave "innocence cards" to currently gathered K-Mart and Sonic customers just prior to the raid. Nothing said about this on the news media at all, however. And what about those who left the buildings just before the alleged cards were passed out? Or were not seen by the officers (K Mart is a big store)? The timing would have had to have been tight and brief, because too long a delay means the cardees would have had a chance to warn the congregated others away.

[Kevin Curry]

Also, it doesn't matter. If 424 of them weren't shopping, it doesn't make it legal (or morally just) to arrest the 425th one who was a legitimate customer.

Indeed. Or the 4,250th, 42,500th, 425,000th, 4,250,000th, or even the 42,500,000th. In fact, if there is the possibility that even one innocent person might be arrested out of the 250,000,000-odd souls in this country, the JBT police ought to be prohibited from arresting anyone. It is the only moral and principled postion to take.

I'm finally starting to see the impeccable logic of libertarianism. Lest one innocent soul suffer unlawful infringement of his unalienable rights by government, government and law enforcement must be eliminated. Free, free, free at last!

On the other hand, perhaps this was just a botched and poorly planned raid that for the most part properly targeted thugs and scofflaws whose behavior was impinging on the local business' right to make a profit and law-abiding citizens' right to shop. If so, perhaps the officials responsible should be and will be fired anyway and law-abiding citizens who were unjustly arrested will receive just compensation for their inconvenience and poor treatment. Hopefully the next raid will be much better planned and executed, and no innocent shopper will be inconvenienced. That would make sense to me.

In the final analysis, even in law enforcement the perfect should not be made the enemy of the good. The alternatives--anarchy, tribalism, or private police forces--are much worse than an occasional botched raid such as this.

[Kevin Curry]

Bump.

[Cultural Jihad]

In the final analysis, even in law enforcement the perfect should not be made the enemy of the good. The alternatives--anarchy, tribalism, or private police forces--are much worse than an occasional botched raid such as this.

As usual, another right-on analysis based on conservative common sense which rational people expect and appreciate from you, Kevin, in juxtaposition to the usual nonsensical anarchic rants and liberal whines of the ideologues. Kudos.

[Lamont Cranston]

I'm finally starting to see the impeccable logic of libertarianism. Lest one innocent soul suffer unlawful infringement of his unalienable rights by government, government and law enforcement must be eliminated. Free, free, free at last!

Who said anything about the elimination of law enforcement?

[Cultural Jihad]

That's right. Law enforcement will be used to protect the neighborhood heroin depots.

[Equality 7-2521]

Maybe Houston should be hiring a better class of police if they are all so incompetent to be unable to discern the lawbreakers from the innocents. Although in this particular situation it appears that there were few lawbreakers when one considers that since both Kmart and Sonic have denied contacting the police on that evening, that there was no criminal trespassing under Texas or Houston law.

Furthermore, I'd like to see how you justify the police going ahead and arresting the people who showed them receipts of their purchases. It's easy for a cop to claim that he didn't understand the law in question well enough to know that it hadn't been violated--but it's far more difficult to dismiss the simple fact that many of the arrestees both here and at the Coney Island restaurant were paying customers who had receipts to prove it and the overzealous cops went ahead and arrested them anyway.

[tacticalogic]

As usual, another right-on analysis based on conservative common sense

Kevin's "anaylsis" is a "lesser of two evils" argument that presents the situation in pure either/or terms. Either we give the police free rein to operate as they wish without any fear of reprisal or repercussion if they screw up, or we have total anarchy, and there is no middle ground. That you label this kind of "analysis" as "common sense" is telling.