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.
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.