Raid at hot dog joint preceded Kmart bust

Houston police Capt. Mark Aguirre, the man who ordered the arrests of 278 people at a westside Kmart last weekend, prodded a local restaurant to allow his officers to conduct a similar raid of its parking lot Saturday in a sting that netted 25 arrests.

Officials with the James Coney Island at 5745 Westheimer said they felt used after police swept in and arrested 25 people, some of whom were customers, for criminal trespass.

"We were cooperative with the idea (of the raid), but are not necessarily happy with the execution," said Darrin Straughan, a vice president with the restaurant chain. "We are victims here, too. We never imagined that this is the way it would be handled or that legitimate customers would be arrested."

Straughan said Aguirre approached the company two weeks ago and told restaurant officials that illegal drag racing along Westheimer had caused several fatal accidents and prompted neighborhood complaints. Aguirre asked the company to post four no-trespassing signs in the parking lot and to sign paperwork allowing police to make the arrests on the restaurant's property.

Company officials went along with Aguirre's plan, Straughan said, thinking their actions would be part of a subdued enforcement of city trespassing ordinances.

Instead, a swarm of officers backed by a police helicopter descended on the restaurant about 1:15 a.m. Saturday, rounding up customers and other people gathered in the parking lot. Police said the arrests continued until 4:30 a.m.

Most of those arrested, Straughan said, were among a group of motorcyclists that has gathered at the restaurant every weekend for nine years without problems.

Monica Coello, 36, was finishing a meal in the parking lot with her brother, sister, sister-in-law and 2-year-old niece when she was arrested.

"We were almost ready to leave when all the patrol cars came in and started blocking the entrances and exits," Coello said. "I wanted to lock my car, and they would not let me. They told me to shut up and walk to the back."

Coello's sister-in-law and niece were left behind, stranded. Police took Coello, her brother and sister to jail. Eventually, their mother shelled out $900 in bail, and the three siblings were freed.

"I don't see how they can call it trespassing when we were eating at the restaurant," she said. "We kept trying to explain that to police but they would not let us."

Coello's complaint is similar to that of dozens, if not hundreds, of people arrested at a Kmart and Sonic Drive-In in the 8400 block of Westheimer just after midnight Sunday.

In that incident, dozens of police -- led by Aguirre and again targeting illegal drag racing -- raided the businesses' parking lots about 12:30 a.m. Several officers said that when no evidence of drag racing was found, Aguirre ordered the arrests of the 278 people gathered there.

Those arrests prompted complaints that police failed to discriminate between loitering teens and legitimate customers when making arrests.

Straughan said James Coney Island has received about 50 customer complaints about the arrests, and the company believes that the police violated their agreement with the restaurant.

"We signed a trespass affidavit that said `James Coney Island requests on our behalf that the Houston Police Department requests all persons who are not patrons in the normal course of business to immediately leave the property or be arrested,' " Straughan said, quoting the agreement.

"From what we have learned, nobody that HPD arrested was asked whether they were there as a customer," he said. The police "just showed up, blocked off entrances, and arrested everybody."

Straughan declined to comment on Aguirre, but he said the company plans to file a complaint with the Police Department. Officials with Kmart did not respond to calls for comment.

Police spokesman Robert Hurst said Wednesday that he couldn't speak about Straughan's concerns because police are investigating Sunday's arrests in the Kmart parking lot. Hurst declined to say whether the incidents at James Coney Island would be part of that investigation.

As police and the district attorney's office attempt to sort out Sunday's mass arrests at Kmart and Sonic Drive-In, local defense lawyers say such raids are "arrest them first and ask questions later" situations that leave room for many legal challenges.

Lawyers questioned whether the no-trespassing signs posted before the arrests are sufficient warning for a criminal trespassing arrest.

"When you have got 400 kids in a parking lot, signs are obscured," said Chip Lewis, a Houston defense lawyer. "The best notice would have been to give them formal citations. There was no reason for this to come to this many arrests."

Citations would have provided adequate warning that arrests could follow, said lawyer Anthony Osso.

"It is extremely indicative of the mentality of whoever was in charge that when they had the option of giving a citation in lieu of arresting someone, they chose to make arrests," Osso said. "Those arrests were unnecessary."

Several lawyers interviewed Wednesday said those who pleaded guilty after their arrests Sunday can request a trial, arguing that their pleas were made under duress. Many of those who pleaded guilty, some of whom were teenagers, said they did so to avoid spending another night in jail.

"They were still under the shock that many of them were arrested without just cause," said Osso. "If you have never been in trouble before, and you believe the police are there to protect you, you will plead if they say you can get out."

Members of City Council said Wednesday that they had received many e-mails and phone calls regarding the weekend arrests and that the public seems outraged about the operation.

"You have young kids whose lives are now forever marked by having been arrested for criminal trespassing ... in what seems like it wasn't an appropriate endeavor," said Councilman Gabriel Vasquez.

Councilman Gordon Quan said he was worried about young people having to report the arrests when applying to college or for jobs.

"We could have resolved this with citations more easily," Quan said. "I'd like to see if there's any way that possibly can be changed."

Mayor Lee Brown said he has asked the city's Office of Inspector General to speed up its investigation.

"They are looking at all aspects of what happened that night," Brown said. "There are still a lot of questions."

That would have been very wise; especially in the case of the Houston people.

I know a widowed Mom whose 5 children were taken from her because she was too strict and the children were considered too thin.
The mother is very thin, has always been so.

Small children can be thin for no good reason. (My own family features sisters barely 18 months apart who are exact opposites. The painfully thin one eats more and more diversely than the heavier child.)

My friend was homeschooling those 5 children; is thoroughly educated (Wheaton). I'll leave you to guess why CPS really took the children.

There is a vicious civilian child "advocacy" system there. Advocacy in the liberal use of the word. (Aside from the fact that CPS typically has a quota they need to fill in order to justify their existence and increase their take to keep the agency running and their jobs intact.)

I do not think I want any family member to live in Humble/Houston. It must be under the domination of dictatorial spirits.

All she did was stop in for some food at the Coney Island, and when she explained that to the police, they arrested her and took her child away from her, anyway.

Horrible, Evil, and Dangerous activities by out of countrol officials. All policemen involved in the actual arrest should be removed from the force. No questoins asked.

The officers (read: Chekists or Nazis) who did what you describe above should do time for that one.

Why do we have so many problems with our poilce? In the past 15 years, there have been many incidents of police brutality, abuse of power, shootings of innocent citizens, etc. etc.

Police departments, both large and small, in America are being militarized by the WOD. The military's job is to close with the enemy and kill them. The police, via training provided by the military, adopt the military's views, the people become the enemy, and cops act accordingly. On the street there are A$$holes, Know Nothings, and Cops. If you aren't a cop, you fall into the two other catagories. The mentality of CYA & Cover your buddy permeates the police agencies, consequently cover-ups. There are good cops, there are those who "just follow orders", and there are those who are cops to prove something. When I worked on the force we proudly refered to ourselves as Peace Officers. Now we have "Law Enforcement Officers". A LEO follows the letter of the law in every encounter, a Peace Officer uses his knowlege, judgement, and conscience to follow the spirit of the law There is a BIG difference between the two.

Boonie Rat

MACV SOCOM, PhuBai/Hue '65-'66

Has anyone else come in contact with the "new breed" of state patrol?
Black suited, Gestapo style.
I was stopped at a "checkpoint" where "my papers" where scrutinized for 30 minutes, I was questioned about the contents of my coolers (camping and picnic supplies - no alcohol), who I was with, why I was here, ect.. ect...seems that they were having trouble with "some people drinking and smoking pot”. The leader of the crew was straight out of a nazi war movie. Even his buddies kept their distance from him. He repeatedly tried to "bait" me into arguing and was very abusive in his tone and demeanor. Eye contact with some of the other officers indicated their fear of and distaste for the actions of this guy but they were clearly scared of him. I have never seen the all black uniform before, is this a new trend?

"the Houston Police Department requests all persons who are not patrons in the normal course of business to immediately leave the property or be arrested." That seems to be the crux of the matter. The HPD acted with a complete lack of common sense in these operations. Unfortunately this is becoming SOP with to many LE agencies. About 15 years ago one of the malls in Charlotte NC was having a similar problem (It might have been Eastland I am not sure.) In this case several hundred teens would gather on Friday and Saturday nights in one end of the parking garage and mingle and dissipate. This started early in the evening and built up to having so many people present that mall security was helpless to oust them after the mall closed. The company managing the mall grew tired of the potential liability issues, alienated older customers, and cleaning up the debris of the partying and went to the Charlotte-Meck Police. They sent a uniformed unit on Friday to observe the scene and confirm it and the next night had several cars each with four officers and and a couple of tow trucks ready. They went into action a half hour after the last show at the mall cinema ended. The party goers were suddenly faced with two marked cars with all lights on blocking the traffic lane out/ An announcement was made for everyone to leave immediately as the mall was closed and all were trespassing.The police eyeballed the departing cars and pedestrians and had a chat with some about drugs and underage liquor possession. Those folks got to ride down town in one of the police wagons stationed outside and their cars were towed off to the city auto pound. The only other arrest was of a truly lust besotted young man who was so involved in doing it with his sweetie in the backseat of a car that he didn't notice he had an audience. It developed he was 18 and the object of his affections was 15 or so. So this fellow got introduced to the carnal knowledge statute. The police were firm but polite and made it clear if the teens came back another weekend everyone would go to jail as trespassers. Police units regularly checked the garage after that and that was the end of the raucous teen party scene at the mall. Why couldn't the HPD have used as much common sense?

My husband leases hunting rights on property owned by an elderly farmer (70 yo) we call Pappy. They recently renegotiated this lease and my husband ended up buying a John Deere tractor for the man. A couple of months ago, Pappy's wayward son was involved in a hit and run car accident (no injuries), fled the scene, and parked the car at Pappy's house before running off again. The SWAT, er, I mean, local police converged on Pappy's home; however, at the time, he was plowing a field behind his house. He knew nothing about his son's accident as he had been going up and down rows for several hours. The police set up on the edge of the field never showing themselves to Pappy. When the tractor reached a point close to the officers, Pappy turned around to hed up the next set of rows. They misconstrued this typical turnaround as an attempt at escape, and shot out all four tires and the back windshield. At this point, Pappy knew something was wrong, stopped the tractor, and was arrested.

Later, the lady who had been the victim of the hit and run stated that Pappy was not the driver of the vehicle. Charges were dropped and the son was later apprehended. As a result of the shootout, the tractor's wheels were also damaged and my husband estimates a minimum of $2000 to get the tractor back running. My husband also knows that if he pays an additional two grand for this hunting land, I may come untrained. I'm afraid Pappy doesn't have the money and his crop will probably suffer if not completely ruin. It is my understanding that Pappy has contacted several lawyers - none of which want to touch the case against local law enforcement.

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.

You insufferable knee-jerk, law enforcement-despising whiners don't deserve the police protection you get and take for granted. I truly wish there were a large island somewhere you could all emigrate to and set up your police-free society. Within a fortnight or two you'd be hunting and slaughtering each other like pigs--just like the Bounty mutineers on Pitcairn Island.

Police departments, both large and small, in America are being militarized by the WOD. The military's job is to close with the enemy and kill them. The police, via training provided by the military, adopt the military's views, the people become the enemy, and cops act accordingly. On the street there are A$$holes, Know Nothings, and Cops. If you aren't a cop, you fall into the two other catagories. The mentality of CYA & Cover your buddy permeates the police agencies, consequently cover-ups. There are good cops, there are those who "just follow orders", and there are those who are cops to prove something. When I worked on the force we proudly refered to ourselves as Peace Officers. Now we have "Law Enforcement Officers". A LEO follows the letter of the law in every encounter, a Peace Officer uses his knowlege, judgement, and conscience to follow the spirit of the law There is a BIG difference between the two.

Well said! I've seen it time and time again. I think it's all part of the trend of our country being no longer "Government by the People", today it is truly "Government on the People". And it's only going to get worse. Cameras everywhere, no-knock entries, detainment "for questioning", etc., etc., our Constituitonal Rights are going out the window, and the majority of the Sheeple coudn't care less, as long as they can get cable TV, and go to the casino, and have fast food anytime they want. It's disgusting.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.