Posted on 08/21/2002 3:10:07 AM PDT by BillyJack
Raid went to 'hell in a handbasket'
Officers say Kmart bust was flubbed
By S.K. BARDWELL
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle
Brandi Ratliff and Kyesa Scott, both 18, comfort each other after being released from police custody. Video: Weekend raid in Kmart parking lot. (Video courtesy of KHOU, Ch. 11) (Requires Real Player)
Houston Police Chief C.O. Bradford ordered an investigation Monday into the weekend arrests of hundreds of people gathered peacefully at a westside parking lot by police who were assigned to stop illegal drag racing.
Officers on the scene called the arrests "utterly, utterly senseless" on Monday, and said the captain in charge, Mark Aguirre, ordered them to round up everyone who was outside the 24-hour Kmart Super Center or eating at the Sonic Drive-In next door.
The operation had been weeks in planning and involved dozens of officers. But officers involved said that when no drag racers were found, they were ordered to arrest the 278 people there.
Police on Sunday said 425 people were arrested, but Monday revised the count. Most were charged with criminal trespass.
"I couldn't believe we were being told to arrest all those kids. It was just utterly, utterly senseless," said one officer involved, who violated department policy by discussing the arrests and spoke on condition of anonymity.
"Captain Aguirre was put in charge, and it went to hell in a handbasket," said a police supervisor who was at the scene, also violating department policy and requesting anonymity.
Also taken into custody were 42 juveniles who were cited for violation of the city's midnight curfew. Thirty of the juveniles also were charged with criminal trespass.
Bradford issued a statement late Monday saying he had begun an inquiry into the arrests, including who was in charge and what instructions were given to the officers.
Two police supervisors said Monday that Aguirre, captain of the South Central Patrol Division, had taken over the operation after a dispute with the assigned leader at a staff meeting. Both blamed Aguirre.
"That operation had been planned for weeks," one of the supervisors said. "It was not planned with the intent to arrest everyone in sight. It was to arrest drag racers."
Both police supervisors said the Sunday operation began under the supervision of Westside Patrol Capt. John Mokwa, in whose area it took place.
But when Aguirre angered Mokwa during a command staff meeting by insisting he knew how the operation should be conducted, he and Mokwa got the permission of an assistant chief for Aguirre to take over, the supervisors said.
Neither Aguirre nor Mokwa returned calls Monday.
The supervisors said the operation was part of a series of recent police efforts to stop illegal drag racing.
During a June 15 raid, police found more than 300 cars gathered in the 7100 block of Business Park Drive, where eight people were arrested for reckless driving and three for public intoxication. Police also issued 32 traffic tickets and cited 16 juveniles for breaking the city's curfew.
On June 22, another raid in the 7000 block of Westheimer to Texas 6 netted five arrests for reckless driving and 65 tickets.
Bradford's statement also said he plans to investigate why police arrested the people gathered in the parking lots instead of issuing citations as in the previous operations.
The Sunday raid "was a complete waste of weeks of work and a huge amount of manpower," said one of the supervisors.
"There are all those kids now, who have a criminal record, and don't deserve it," said the other supervisor.
Hundreds of young people gather in the parking lots of the Kmart and adjacent Sonic on weekend nights.
Those businesses and others in the area, as well as nearby residents, have in the past complained about the noise and litter, police said.
Police were interested in the spot's role as a race staging area, where young drivers admire one another's vehicles, then go to other nearby locations to race, said one of the supervisors.
The two supervisors said police had "scout cars" and undercover officers working surveillance at the gathering spot for weeks in preparation for Sunday's raid.
"But we got out there, and no one was racing," said one of the supervisors. "So Aguirre just said, `Arrest them all for trespass.'
"It was like, `Kill them all and let God sort them out,' " said the other supervisor. "I guess we're just lucky he didn't order us to fire warning shots into the crowd or anything."
Both supervisors said many of the people arrested were not in cars. Many were eating food from the Sonic, which was open until 2 a.m., or had been shopping at Kmart.
Monday, Kmart corporate spokeswoman Susan Dennis acknowledged the store has had complaints about the weekend night crowds.
"Our first concern is the safety of our customers and associates," Dennis said. "As for the action taken, that was the police. There was no directive from Kmart."
A woman who answered the phone at the Sonic on Monday said no one there wished to speak to the news media.
HPD's internal affairs division was flooded Monday with people filing complaints over their arrests.
"I was eating ice cream from the Sonic when I was arrested," 19-year-old Emily Demmler said Monday. She and several friends, all of whom were arrested, met at Demmler's house Monday to go file IAD complaints.
An IAD officer said many of those who filed complaints Monday were discussing lawsuits over the incident.
"I don't feel safe anywhere now," Demmler said of the experience. "It was really wrong, what they did."
Many of those arrested Sunday pleaded guilty in order to get out of jail quicker and go about the business of retrieving their cars, all of which were towed away.
Martin DeLeon, an HPD spokesman, said the tow fee is $103 and the storage fee averages about $15 a day, but some auto-storage facilities can charge more.
Ronald Beylotte, chief prosecutor for the city attorney's office, said the cases that are set for trial will probably be scheduled in four to six weeks.
Aguirre has run afoul of department policy many times in his 20 years with HPD.
The most recent, an allegation that Aguirre used foul and threatening language to his subordinates, garnered the captain a written reprimand from Bradford, which was overturned by an arbitrator.
That incident also resulted in an investigation of perjury allegations against Bradford, who testified at Aguirre's hearing that he doesn't use profanity to his subordinates.
Bradford later was contradicted by an assistant chief, who testified that Bradford had once called him a quite profane name.
Yes, because from their lack of refusal to follow such ridiculous orders in the first place, they would have apparently done that, too.
It looks like the HPD has internal problems that are wide and deep. This incident is a mere reflection of the massive problems this PD has, and now the lawsuits will pile up the problems even higher.
Police officers being held personally responsible for their actions that night should get this pot stirred.
I keep getting the impression that houston is a liberal hell hole. Is my impression on the mark?
God Save America (Please)
Or the bees? Or the hounds with bees in their mouths so that when they bark, bees come out?
Sorry, couldn't resist!
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