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A crowd of angry teenagers and their parents accused police Sunday of arresting many innocent bystanders during an overnight raid on a west Houston parking lot where youths apparently congregate. Scores of Houston police officers swarmed onto the Kmart parking lot in the 8400 block of Westheimer about 12:30 a.m. Sunday and arrested about 425 people for criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor. Houston Police Department spokesman Martin DeLeon said many cars were towed. DeLeon said business owners have been complaining about youths gathering on their parking lots on weekend nights and causing a commotion. DeLeon said he did not have more...

Judge rips Kmart raid's mass arrests Calling actions unconstitutional, she rules 10 suits can now proceedBy HARVEY RICECopyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Calling the operation "almost totalitarian," a federal judge says a Houston police plan that led to 278 arrests in a Kmart parking lot almost three years ago was unconstitutional. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Nancy Atlas allows all 10 lawsuits filed in the wake of the Aug. 18, 2002, mass arrest, and a smaller operation the previous night, to proceed.The "plan to detain all persons ... with no regard for the existence of open businesses and their customers,...

After two weeks of testimony, jurors cleared fired Houston police Capt. Mark Aguirre of all wrongdoing in what prosecutors called a bungled raid that netted 278 arrests in a Kmart parking lot but no charges that would stick. Aguirre was tried on five misdemeanor charges of official oppression. Each carried up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine. In closing arguments Friday morning, prosecutor Tommy La Fon said the Aug. 18 raid in the 8400 block of Westheimer was originally designed as a legitimate HPD crackdown on illegal and dangerous street racing. But under Aguirre, he said, it...

A Houston police sergeant told a jury Wednesday he once admired former Capt. Mark Aguirre but lost respect for him after a raid last year led to the arrests of hundreds of innocent bystanders. "He was a mentor of mine," Sgt. John Zitzmann said during questioning by the defense. "This whole event completely turned me against him." Zitzmann, who began testifying Tuesday, was the last witness for the prosecution, which rested its case against Aguirre on Wednesday. Aguirre is being tried on five charges of official oppression in connection with the Aug. 18 raid at a westside Kmart and Sonic...

The last weekend of summer was supposed to be fun for Jessica Paine, especially since her mother had allowed her to stay out 30 minutes past her curfew. But the day before Paine, then 17, was to begin her senior year in high school, she was released from city jail, one of hundreds who had been swept up in a raid at a westside shopping center. As she was driving away from the Sonic drive-in next to a Kmart Super Center in the 8400 block of Westheimer, Paine testified Monday, a Houston police officer knocked on her window with gun...

Trial for officers in Kmart raid starts June 2 By LISA TEACHEY Coypright 2003 Houston Chronicle Two former Houston police officers who were at the helm of a botched raid at a westside parking lot will go to trial June 2 to answer charges of official oppression. Capt. Mark Aguirre and Sgt. Ken Wenzel, who appeared in court today for the trial setting, each face five charges of official oppression for ordering the arrests of more than 300 people, including many teenagers, at a Kmart parking lot in the 8400 block of Westheimer on Aug. 18. The scene of hundreds...

The Houston police captain who ordered the arrests of 303 people at westside raids was fired Wednesday, ending a five-month investigation that tarnished the careers of 32 officers and cost the department $123,000. Acting Police Chief Tim Oettmeier announced Mark Aguirre's firing during his report to City Council on the August raids targeting drag racing. He said 31 other officers were disciplined. "The intentional bad acts of a certain few were exacerbated by an ignorance of the law, ineffective management, lackadaisical supervision and just plain sloppy police work," Oettmeier said. In Aguirre's first public comment since late August, he lambasted...

A Houston police captain who was suspended after a botched raid at a westside Kmart will learn within a week whether he will be fired, but his former sergeant quit today before a scheduled hearing in his case. Sgt. Ken Wenzel, one of 13 officers suspended with pay over the Aug. 18 raid, decided to resign hours before he was to meet with acting Police Chief Tim Oettmeier. Capt. Mark Aguirre went through with his Loudermill hearing, however, and was told that a decision will be made in the next few days on whether he will keep his job, said...

Two police officers involved in the Kmart raid in which nearly 300 people were arrested are likely to be fired Tuesday, their lawyer and a union representative say. The lawyer for Capt. Mark A. Aguirre, who ordered the raid, and for Sgt. Ken Wenzel said the Houston Police Department should wait to decide whether to fire them until after the two go to trial this summer on charges of official oppression. Instead both are scheduled for hearings, at which it will be determined whether they should be fired Tuesday. "Most people who have loudermill hearings get fired," lawyer Terry W....

Two ranking Houston police officers accused of unlawfully arresting patrons at a westside store and restaurant made their first court appearance today on charges of official oppression. Lawyers for Capt. Mark Aguirre and Sgt. Ken Wenzel waived the officers' rights to an arraignment, a formality in which the charges against them would have been read aloud in court. Each faces five charges of official oppression in an Aug. 18 raid at a Kmart and Sonic Drive-In this summer in which more than 270 people were arrested, most of them teens. The arrests were heavily criticized by parents and community leaders...

Nov. 21, 2002, 10:35AM Testimony heard on police raid Lawyer: Focus is on Aguirre, sergeant By ROMA KHANNA Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle Houston police Capt. Mark Aguirre and a sergeant who works closely with him appear to be the only targets of an investigation into the mass arrest of people in a Kmart parking lot, a lawyer for an officer cooperating with authorities said. "After reviewing all the evidence, my impression is that Aguirre and one other sergeant who is his right-hand man are the targets of this probe," said Clint Greenwood, who is representing Lt. Frank Jackson. Greenwood would...

<p>The police chief might go to prison for perjury. The captain who led the raid might eventually be fired. Twelve other officers have been relieved of duty. And the city faces millions in potential legal costs.</p> <p>The 5,300-man Houston Police Department is in turmoil, many aligning themselves behind either Capt. Mark Aguirre or Police Chief Clarence Bradford.</p>

A young couple among the more than 200 people arrested for criminal trespass at a Kmart parking lot filed a lawsuit today against the city of Houston, the police chief and other officers in charge. Brandi Ratliff, 18, and William Ryan Grenwelge, 20, said they had stopped at the store Aug. 17 to purchase drinks and other items and to use the telephone to call Ratliff's mother. As they were driving from the store's parking lot in the 8400 block of Westheimer to go to a friend's house, they were stopped by police officers yelling at them with at least...

Police chief must sign off on big operations like Kmart raidBy KRISTEN MACKCopyright 2002 Houston Chronicle Acting Police Chief Timothy Oettmeier told Houston's City Council this morning that future operations on the scale of last month's raid on a Kmart parking lot will have to first receive the chief's written approval. Oettmeier said the Houston Police Department's new procedure will ensure that large operations will be monitored as they are being executed. Portions of the Houston Police Department's investigation into that raid, meanwhile, will be delayed as the Harris County District Attorney's Office attempts to present a case to a...

Even though charges have been dropped against people who were arrested in police raids last month, many have appeared in court for bail refunds and proof of their dismissal. Gaulberto Gonzolez, who lives in Mission, showed up at Houston's Municipal Court at 11 a.m. Friday for his scheduled date, which was set when he posted bail. "I'm never coming to Houston again," he said. Last week, acting Police Chief Timothy Oettmeier requested the dismissal of trespassing and curfew charges against 298 people arrested in the parking lots of Kmart, Sonic Drive-In and James Coney Island on Westheimer. "It started out...

A Houston police officer paid for "no trespassing" signs with his city credit card the day before a weekend of mass arrest, the city controller confirmed Thursday. Dilip Patel, budget coordinator for the Houston Police Department's South Central division, purchased $256.50 worth of signs on Aug. 15, coinciding with police raids of a westside Kmart, Sonic Drive-In and James Coney Island parking lots. Nearly 300 people were arrested for trespassing in early morning raids on Aug. 17 and 18. "It appears that the timing of the purchase raises a few eyebrows," said City Controller Sylvia Garcia. Councilwoman Ada Edwards sent...

Houston Police Chief C.O. Bradford was indicted Friday on allegations of lying under oath about whether he used foul language with subordinates. Hours later, Mayor Lee Brown suspended the first police chief in Houston in modern times to be charged with a crime. If convicted, the chief, who also is a lawyer, could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. "Obviously, I'm not happy about it," Brown said. "As you know, we have a good police chief, a good department. ... Chief Bradford will proceed through the process, I'm assuming get himself a...

HOUSTON -- Houston's Police Chief C.O. Bradford addressed concerns Wednesday about a Kmart parking lot raid earlier this month in which dozens of people were arrested. Hear What Police Chief Has To Say SURVEY Was The Parking Lot Raid Warranted? DISCUSSION What Do You Think Of The Parking Lot Raid? The raid happened Aug. 19 in the parking lot of a Kmart department store, located in the 8400 block of Westheimer Road, in southwest Houston. HPD officials had previously said that it conducted the crackdown in response to numerous complaints from citizens and previous police surveillance regarding street racing and...

HPD Chief takes hot seat for trespassing arrests HPD Chief Bradford told the city council he was out of town during the raid. By Patrick NolanABC13 Eyewitness News(8/28/02) — Houston's police chief takes the hot seat for the recent round-up of hundreds of people at a southwest Houston parking lot. Police Chief C.O. Bradford is taking tough questions from city council members. The chief came to answer questions from council members, but he says he has a lot of questions and concerns himself about how police handled Operation Erase. The operation was ostentiously designed to cut down on street racing....

Last week, Mayor Lee Brown said his Office of Inspector General was investigating the mishandled Aug. 18 police raid that netted 278 arrests, including alleged shoppers and fast food patrons, at a westside Kmart parking lot and nearby Sonic Drive-In. This week, the mayor's director of communications said Brown's assertion was the result of a "miscommunication" between the chief of police and the city attorney, and that the OIG is not, in fact investigating the raid. Say what? The OIG was created by Brown himself in 1998 to investigate allegations of employee misconduct, both criminal and administrative. There certainly is...