(Kmart Raid) Sonic officials say raid at restaurant unwanted

Houston Chronicle ^ | Aug. 22, 2002, 11:38PM | ROMA KHANNA

[packrat35]

I always wondered about the Sonic and now I see I was right. My friend was an assistant manager in the late 70's and he ran the police off the lot whenever they would show up to hassle teenagers. The manager there also kept the police off also. Good to see they tried to protect their customers and preventing needless towing of customer cars. Tomorrow I am eating at SONIC.

Now K Mart, well I can see Wal-Mart ads coming soon. "We don't have our customers arrrested"

K Mart is already in deep doo doo and now they're going to scare off late night shoppers from their 24 hour store. I bet their business drops off BIG TIME after dark.

[niki]

Kmart/Sonics Raid - More information

[HAL9000]

It will be interesting to see what happens this weekend.

The news media will be out in full force, with their cameras.

[freebilly]

This just gets better and better. You'd figure that at least one of these 50 officers would have realized that this was going to be a PR nightmare and an attorney's dream.

[Doctor Stochastic]

How long will it take for someone to say "Sonic deserved it anyway"?

[ImphClinton]

Smart people are not cops. Anyone with an above average inteligence is not hired. People have sued to become cops after testing too smart and lost.

They want cops who will follow orders without question. Arrest now and sort it out latter is all they know.

I'm not comparing it to the SS though. These cops are also taught to never draw their weapon unless drawn upon first. They are also taught to use minimal violence. I only heard of them being violent with one person who tried to get away.

I hope Houston is sued into bankruptcy over this.

[HAL9000]

KMart is shocked - SHOCKED! - to find out that drag racing is going on here!

[freebilly]

I hope Houston is sued into bankruptcy over this.

What a dilemma! I agree that the HPD should be sued, but the idea of any attorney making $$$ off this suit just turns my stomach....

[Djarum]

Raid on Kmart lot leaves shock, anger
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
Raid at hot dog joint preceded Kmart bust

[Free Trapper]

Kickbacks to cops by wrecker outfits aren't unheard of.

Has anyone brought up the possibility?

[jammer]

Ironically, there IS a Wal-Mart directly across the street.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Yep, I'm going to have to go down to a Sonic and order some crow in response to my assessment on the initial thread. Seems clear now that someone ordered a PR event, arrest first, ask questions later.

Hope it scalds Lee P. Brown.

[Fixit]

I don't have time to post it, but there is a good update @ Yahoo News that you might want to post.

It talks about the investigation, and the possible penalties for officers who were "just following orders".

link

[Diddle E. Squat]

Yep, I wondered that, too.

Several years ago I used to lift after work at a Gold's Gym on Richmond in the Galleria area. One night some friends met me, and we went out for the evening leaving my car parked in the gym lot. Came back around 11pm, and my car had been towed, within an hour of the club closing. Called the gym the next day to discuss, and the manager's response was "F. U."

Gold's Gym never again got another membership dollar from me.

[Dog Gone]

There was an interesting call made to a morning talk show here in Houston today.

The caller was a 41 year old man. He and his wife were on their way home from a night playing dominoes with his parents and they had their 5-year old girl, who was asleep, in the back seat of their 2002 Cadillac sedan. They hardly looked like street punks.

They pulled into that parking lot to get a milkshake at Sonic. They never made it. A policeman waved them down, told them to get out of the car and arrested them. The man tried to ask why, but the cop just told them to put their hands behind their backs and he handcuffed them. They spent the night in jail.

It's this type of report that makes my blood boil, and the very few folks at this forum who continue to support and defend what the police did here do not deserve to live in a free society. I am ashamed of them.

[PatrioticAmerican]

Police State is when the cops act without fear of prosecution for their crimes. I'd say we have one.

[Dog Gone]

Congressman John Culberson, who represents this part of Houston, was on the radio here in Houston this morning. He is outraged by what happened and he said he hopes those arrested sue the Department.

I wonder what this does to Houston's bid for the Olympics in 2012. It doesn't do much for the image of hospitality when you can spend the night in jail for getting a milkshake after midnight!

[sweetliberty]

"I can see Wal-Mart ads coming soon. "We don't have our customers arrrested"

LOL! Actually, in one of the articles I have read about this case a manager at K-mart said that he had NOT called the cops. There may have been complaints previously, but I got the impression that they were just as surprised by the attack raid as everybody else was.

[sweetliberty]

"It's this type of report that makes my blood boil, and the very few folks at this forum who continue to support and defend what the police did here do not deserve to live in a free society. I am ashamed of them."

Well, I have noticed that the champions of the cops on the earlier threads have either gone silent, changed their opinion or been banned as the story unfolds.