Posted on 08/22/2002 10:17:51 PM PDT by niki
Sonic officials say raid at restaurant unwanted
By ROMA KHANNA
A yellow traffic light was the difference between freedom and detention for several people who were arrested as they waited to drive out of a west Houston parking lot last weekend as police began a controversial raid.
Natalee Torres, her boyfriend and three friends were leaving the Sonic Drive-In at 8404 Westheimer on their motorcycles about 12:30 a.m. Sunday when a traffic light at the exit changed. Two made it through the light; the others were left behind.
"Out of nowhere, 50 cop cars came out and blocked every entrance," said Torres, a 21-year-old student at Wharton Community College. "We had no idea what was going on. They told us to get off our bikes and go to the back of the parking lot."
Torres and the hundreds of others in a parking lot shared by the Sonic and a 24-hour Kmart Super Center were the targets of a police raid, led by Capt. Mark Aguirre, to curb illegal drag racing. The raid, and a similar one at a nearby James Coney Island on Saturday, have prompted complaints that the 278 arrests excessively punished loitering teens -- not drag racers -- and included legitimate customers.
Sonic officials said Thursday that they never complained to police about the regular weekend crowd, had no warning of the raid and ordered employees to protect customers as the operation began.
Dismayed Sonic employees refused to allow police to tow 12 cars that the arrested customers were forced to leave in the lot.
"We wanted the opportunity for our customers to come get their cars without paying towing charges," said Celina Abernathy, a Sonic spokeswoman. Such charges can exceed $100. "Obviously we don't want our customers arrested. That is just common sense."
Sonic has never warned trespassers, filed complaints or signed paperwork to allow police to make arrests under the city trespassing ordinance, Abernathy said. Kmart officials have declined to explain the steps they took before the arrests.
"We have no no-trespassing signs on our property, though there are some nearby," Abernathy said. "And we never signed any paperwork."
Sonic officials are waiting for the result of a Houston Police Department internal investigation before they decide whether to pursue further action.
Many of those arrested will not be as patient.
Torres, who said she still has bruises from the plastic handcuffs, has retained Houston lawyer Rocket Rosen.
"I feel violated and confused," Torres said. "It was unbelievable the way they treat you like animals. I have never been subject to anything like that."
Torres recalled the force used against a driver who was next to her in front of the traffic signal when the raid began. He tried to complete a right turn onto Westheimer, but police ordered him out of the car.
"They threw him on the back of his truck," Torres said of the police, "and yelled for him to get to the back."
Rosen said he will fight the charges and explore the possibility of lawsuits.
"They didn't know what hit them," Rosen said. "Clearly the police were out of control here. I am hoping that once it comes to judges and prosecutors they admit they made a mistake and drop charges. But it will not end there."
As lawsuits are weighed, the Harris County district attorney's office has said it will examine the arrests. Tommy La Fon, lead prosecutor investigating police in the Kmart arrests, said it's too early to say if the case will be presented to a grand jury.
"We're trying to get a hold on all the facts and circumstances," said La Fon, who works for the district attorney's Police Integrity Division. "I don't have enough information to say this happened or that happened."
La Fon said his office has issued subpoenas and also has asked HPD for information.
"Once we look at the circumstances, ultimately it will be like any other case," La Fon said. "If there's evidence of criminal misconduct, it will be presented to a grand jury. If there is no criminal misconduct, we'll close it with a letter saying we won't be prosecuting."
The news media will be out in full force, with their cameras.
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....
Has anyone brought up the possibility?
It talks about the investigation, and the possible penalties for officers who were "just following orders".
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.
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!
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.
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.
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