Raid on Kmart: 425 arrested - Unbelievable

[Miramonti]

Maybe these are some of those Texas cops that were planting drugs on people and then arresting them. Sounds like they've been reassigned to the "hoodlum watch" beat of the graveyard shift.

Look for reports soon of all 425 people getting charged for possessing a couple ounces of coke with intent to distribute.

 

[rootaxs]

Originally posted by: Citrix
I dont know about the rest of you but I have NEVER seen 425 people out shopping at a KMart at 00:30.

Sonic:
2 people/car, it's a 25 (IIRC) car area = 50 people
Factor in around 50 cars in the area at 2 people/car = 100 people

The KMart/Sonic area is just a small part of a busy intersection/lot, so there may have been people who didn't go to either stores.

Now factor in the actual people who went there to "hang-out" - i'd say 50 cars w/ 2 people in each = 100 people.

So, out of the 425 arrested, i'd say only 25% of that was the target.

 

[rootaxs]

Originally posted by: jjsole
Look for reports soon of all 425 people getting charged for possessing a couple ounces of coke with intent to distribute.

I sure hope not, just got (4) 2-Liter bottles of Coke from Sam's club for $3.50. If anything, it's Sam's club's fault. They distributed it!
:Q

 

[ChrisIsBored]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
I love this quote from the article:

"We went to use the restroom at Kmart and to buy a Scrunchi (hair band), and when we came back to our car, cops were coming in (the parking lot) and they tied our hands," said Brandi Ratliff, 18, who said she was a straight-A student at Waller High School and never had any problems with the law. "

Well sure, doesn't everyone go to K-Mart at 12:30 in the morning to buy a Scrunchi? That's right up there with "Honest, I'm not kinky, I just made a mistake and sat on that gerbil when I had just gotten out of the shower..." I'm in the supermarket business and we have some stores that are open 24/7 in plazas with regular retailers like K-Mart that are also open nights. At that time of the day, even the busiest stores will only have a couple of legitimate customers. You're open only for convenience and because you're running a night crew anyway, so staying open doesn't cost much extra. NOBODY IS ACTUALLY SHOPPING at 12:30 in the morning. If they arrested 425 people, the worst possible ratio is that they picked up 420 tresspassers and 5 innocent bystanders. Likely it's more like 425-0. What's sad is that Brandi's mommy and daddy probably buy that line on BS and really think their darling daughter was there to buy a Scunchi.

Oh please, it's past nine o'clock already, go back to bed. Not everyone lives on your sleeping schedule. You sir, are an idiot.

 

[dew042]

Originally posted by: rootaxs
Per the concerns of everyone on "Why is so-so sitting at a Sonic or going to KMart at such an ungodly hour". If you're from that area or Westheimer in general you'll know that on a weekend there's quite a lot of people in this long stretch of road and the rustle and bustle of Houstonian's never seem to stop until the wee hours of the morning.

Me and my fiance sometimes just go through Westheimer to drive around and/or stop by one of the 24 hour stores just to pass time and/or eat.

Normally i'd react the same way you guys do, but i'm from Houston and i know Westheimer. 12:30 is like primetime in this area.

home depot at 2am is the best.



dew.

 

[Joony]

whoa, thats freaking BS...

 

[wQuay]

I'm not sure which is of more concern, that the cops did this, or that kids and parents put up with it.

 

[Bleep]

Long read but the best quote here is=

(they had no choice, they just did what they were told)

I think that this the same excuse that the Nazi used to try and get out of war crimes.

Bleep

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: Bleep
Long read but the best quote here is=

(they had no choice, they just did what they were told)

I think that this the same excuse that the Nazi used to try and get out of war crimes.

Bleep

Perhaps, but there is a world of difference between a questionable arrest (or 425 of them) and the massacre of millions.

Viper GTS

 

[Desturel]

Umm... I wonder if many of you have even read the other article. There weren't 425 people arrested

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.

Also the reason why the police aren't saying anything is because of a gag order.

Make sure to read the second article as well.

 

[HiveMaster]

Asscroft will charge them all under the new terrorism statute, and they will all disappear. And if the parents protest...they will disappear as well.
hehe.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Originally posted by: chrisisbored


Oh please, it's past nine o'clock already, go back to bed. Not everyone lives on your sleeping schedule. You sir, are an idiot.

BWAHAHA!!! You're pathetic Chris. Maybe your life is empty enough that you honestly believe that someone would be in K-mart at 12:30 for the sole purpose of buying a Scrunchi. Those of us with brains know the truth, that 425 people in a K-mart parking lot at that time are there to loiter, not to shop. And those of us over the age of 20 know enough to do our partying on private property or in a more discreet public location. Anyone dumb enough to use a parking lot as a public gathering place for that mass of people deserves to be hustled away in handcuffs and removed from society if for no other reason than to improve the gene pool.

 

[iamme]

Doesn't anyone wonder WTF 400+ people are doing at Kmart at midnight?

This article is sort of one sided. Maybe there's a problem of kids loittering and causing trouble. Don't you think that there's got to be a reason that the police would arrest 425 people?

Just trying to see both sides of the story.

 

[iamme]

Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski
man, if something like that happened to me I can gaurantee I'd resist arrest and fight back. F that crap. Some pig tries to pull sh!t like that and take away my basic liberties(which is what they were doing) I'm going revolutionary on their @sses. Don't take this kinda crap laying down. And if it was a misdomenor there was no reason to put people in jail instead of just giving them tickets. This was Houston trying to make a quick $$ off of bail charges, plain and simple.

and you'd deserve the ass beating the cops would give you.

 

[Ultima]

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: Electric Amish

Originally posted by: amnesiac 2.0

Originally posted by: Electric Amish
Sounds like the proper response by the police/business owner.

amish

Apprehending everyone including legitimate customers is a proper response?
What next then, apprehending everyone in surrounding homes because they're within a few hundred yards of the store?

I've never heard of a Kmart open at midnight.

amish

Our K-Mart here is open 24-7...same with Walmart and most of the grocery stores.

That's cool. After 5pm many major business are closed and after 10pm practically everything is closed. It sucks.

 

[ChrisIsBored]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt

Originally posted by: chrisisbored


Oh please, it's past nine o'clock already, go back to bed. Not everyone lives on your sleeping schedule. You sir, are an idiot.

BWAHAHA!!! You're pathetic Chris. Maybe your life is empty enough that you honestly believe that someone would be in K-mart at 12:30 for the sole purpose of buying a Scrunchi. Those of us with brains know the truth, that 425 people in a K-mart parking lot at that time are there to loiter, not to shop. And those of us over the age of 20 know enough to do our partying on private property or in a more discreet public location. Anyone dumb enough to use a parking lot as a public gathering place for that mass of people deserves to be hustled away in handcuffs and removed from society if for no other reason than to improve the gene pool.

You've never been to Houston have you? I have two friends with relatives in that neighborhood... the whole place is always packed. If you read the article correctly, all of the people arrested weren't just sitting in the parking lot. They took people from nearby stores and Sonic who just happened to park in the area. People who came out of K-Mart from shopping were arrested... a man having a late dinner with his daughter was arrested... You seem to think that just because it's late that people should be at home having no life. Some people DO stop by open stores to pick things up after a night out ya know.

Perhaps it's just YOUR life that's pathetic.

 

[TNTrulez]

Looks like the city will go bankrupt.

 

[Hubris]

"I guess we're just lucky he didn't order us to fire warning shots into the crowd or anything."

ROFL!!! Gotta love cops with a sense of humor.

Regardless of whether or not all these people were shopping, I kinda doubt all of them were doing anything that would warrant arrest. Even if they WERE loitering (ALL of them), they should have been told to disperse or MAYBE (big maybe) given a citation. Calling the paddy wagons and carting everyone in sight off is complete BS. Especially people at a restaurant in the process of eating. No matter how you try to spin this, the cops overreacted. Must have taken a hell of a long time to cart off 400+ people.

 

[Venix]

Maybe your life is empty enough that you honestly believe that someone would be in K-mart at 12:30 for the sole purpose of buying a Scrunchi. Those of us with brains know the truth, that 425 people in a K-mart parking lot at that time are there to loiter, not to shop.

"Those of you with brains" might want to ponder why K-Mart would be open 24 hours a day if no one shopped there at 12:30 AM. My 24-hour Wal-Mart usually has 3 or 4 cashiers working until 2 AM, and the place generally has at least fifty customers inside at almost any hour. It doesn't start to slow down until around 2 or 3 AM, and I don't even live in a large city.

I've stopped at Wal-Mart numerous times for the purpose of buying a 50 cent candy bar or a bag of chips, and I usually go much later than 12:30. God forbid anyone not have a sleep schedule like yours, but you'll find that a large number of high school and college students don't sleep until 3 or 4 AM, and 12:30 is more like dinner time than bed time. The Steak and Shake near my house is usually full inside with a line of cars at the drive-up window at 12:30.

And since you apparently didn't even bother to read the article, a number of people arrested were carrying bags full of merchandise, and another group was pulled out of the nearby hamburger joint. The actual count of arrests was under 300.

 

[clarkmo]

Something in the water over there? There have been a lot of strange reports from that town.

Houston?
We got a problem...

 

[DanFungus]

wow, there's gonna be a lot of lawsuits...

 

[Raiden256]

So... wait....

Does this mean the terrorists have won?

 

[tigerbait]

this is the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a while....very bad decision by the police

we used to always hang out in public places when I was younger, and it was common procedure... you had a few hours to hang out, the cops came, you went home... no arrests, no problem

 

[alphatarget1]

425 people at 12:30am??

only 7/11 opens 24/7 here, only denny's open at midnight... I mean, that's a LOT of people to be arrested at 12:30 am

we have curfews for teens here anyway, 12am midnight (i think). no problem so far i'll have to agree this is a very bad decision by the cops

 

[Imported]

This would suck if it happened to me.. I'm usually up till 3-4AM because I work a 3-11 shift..