RAID ON KMART PARKING LOT (HOUSTON) LEAVES SHOCK, ANGER

The Houston Chronicle ^ | 19 August 2002 | Ron Nissimov

[Moonmad27]

I know that Westheimer store, and they could have 425 people in the parking lot on a Saturday afternoon. At 12:30 at night, 425 people hanging around the store would be people congregating for fun and general messing about, NOT for shopping. This wouldn't have been a problem at the Galleria down the street - the security guards would have made sure every parking garage was a ghost town at 10.

[clodkicker]

Ever gone to the late movie and then got something to eat with your kid?

[Dog Gone]

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

Read that again slowly, AppyPappy.

[George Frm Br00klyn Park]

Guys, Draco LIVES! Peace and love, George.

[demlosers]

I realize that you old farts from Podunksville think 12:30 a.m. Sunday (aka Saturday night) is late and way past your bed time, but the girl is 18 and it's not late.

You could have also added in your post it's the summer-- no school. The girl said she "was a straight-A student," which seems to indicate she graduated. And her being 18 is an adult.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Don't know why they were there - could be they were on a trip, and stopped to eat? Could be he works graveyard shift and it was his night off? Wh knows why they were there - point being, as far as I know it's not illegal... It's also quite possible that he didn't get seperated from her until the cops swooped in and began herding people - maybe she was coming back from the bathroom or something?

Obviously, Houston is so free of violent criminals that they have time to stage massive 'misdemeanor' arrests like this... Maybe I need to move there, if it's that nice...

[oyez]

What are 425 kids doing at a k-mart parking lot after midnight?!

I think in the current lingo its called "flexing". We used to call it crusing, but back then we had 400 horsepower, now they have 400 watts.

[dawn53]

How can you 'criminally trespass', in the parking lot of a department store that's open 24 hours a day?

Most of the K-Marts or WalMarts in our area have security guards for the overnight hours.

I'd wager a bet that the security guards had asked this crowd to disperse, and when they didn't they called the cops.

In our area, a kid hanging out with a bunch of other kids in a parking lot was killed during an altercation. Of course, now the parents are bringing a suit against the establishment for allowing the kids to loiter.

Betcha if somebody in the crowd had gotten hurt while they were in the KMart parking lot, the parents would have a lawsuit against KMart for negligence and not monitoring the activity on their property.

In our litigious society, you can't win either way.

[Wonder Warthog]

"They are known in some circles as 'ricers' because they are more interested in making their Asian cars LOOK fast, rather than modifying them so they actually GO fast."

Some of them do more than make them "look fast". The reason the Acura Integra is the most stolen car in the US is because the chop shops sell the engines to these little "pocket-rocket" builders as "drop-in" fits to the Honda Accords and Civics. It seems the Integra engine will withstand "souping up" to higher horsepower better than the stock Honda engines.

Not my bag--I prefer American iron (preferably mid sixties Ford).

[templar]

...why are police ARRESTING a freakin' 10 year old!!

Because she was violating the law?

[FreeTally]

Don't you think there's something fishy about their stories? Ten year olds don't normally stay up and eat dinner at 12:30am and if they do you'd think when the dad saw a mob, he'd have been extra careful not to lose sight of his kid.

Seems like everyone interviews was innocent, doesn't it? I'm 100% sure kids in the lot have been a problem. It was probably a mix of many different kids from different "crowds", with you "street racers", hooligans and probably some decent kids. The stories of "I just stopped for ice cream" or "I just bought bottles water" are quite funny. I'm supposed to believe that many kids, in the same age range as the rest, just happened to stop at the local hang-out at 12:30 to do some innocent shopping? LOL!!!

I worked retail when i was younger - sometimes late at night. No employee, or manager or owner is going to approach a large group after dark. And I mean large by more than nine or ten. This was over 400 people. Nothing they could do but call the cops.

[Orangedog]

Ten year olds don't normally stay up and eat dinner at 12:30am and if they do you'd think when the dad saw a mob, he'd have been extra careful not to lose sight of his kid.

I imagine that it's pretty easy to lose site of your 10 year old when the police put you in one paddy wagon and the kid in a different one.

I took my 12 year old out to see the last Star Wars movie on it's opening weekend. The only showing that we could get tickets for was 10:00 PM. When the movie was over, we went to Steak and Shake to eat. If this had happened to me and my kid, the police department would have to go to the city for a tax increase to pay off the court judgement that I would have sued them for. These cops need to use their brains and get off of their little power trip.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Ok, Templar, name one law which makes it illegal for a 10-year old girl to eat at a restaraunt with her father... Take your time, I can wait...

[FreeTally]

Don't know why they were there - could be they were on a trip, and stopped to eat? Could be he works graveyard shift and it was his night off?

You're joking, right? Just a coincidence that all these "innocent" kids were at the local hang-out at 12:30? I mean, just a coincidence, right? Shopping? Buying ice cream? A scrunchie? At 12:30? At the local hang out?

[Brad C.]

The girl sounds innocent enough, I am sure she was sitting at home that night and suddenly realized that she needed a "Scrunchie" to wear to church the next day. So she called up her two friends, who both have exceptional taste in fashionable accessories and drove over to the only store in town that would have the much needed hair band.
As this was somewhat of an emergency, none of the girls took the time to use their bathrooms at home, knowing that K-mart would provide everything they needed once they found the hairband, which were probably on sale 3 for a dollar. It is such a shame that the young lady missed going to church on Sunday, and instead spent the morning in jail.
I always had an excuse ready when I was somewhere I shouldn't have been, just as these young ladies do. K-mart has a right to police their property, they may have excerized poor judgement in doing that.

[Orangedog]

But more importantly my dad never took me to the late movie. If we did go to an evening show it was the 7PM, and we ate before.

Good for you.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Must have been nice to have had such a perfect life... Cuz only an unemployed, welfare-recipient, crackhead would take their kids to a late movie in the summer, right?