The convenience store is being sued because they allegedly ' tolerate crime at this property,' according to the owner's attorney. But the owner is fighting back.
HOUSTON, Texas -- The Lucky Evening Food Store in southwest Houston has been open for 20 years under the same owner.
The lawsuit read there have been repeated incidents of delivery and possession of controlled substances, robbery, aggravated robbery, aggravated assaults, unlawful carrying of a weapon, and murder at the property.When Mayor Sylvester Turner and Houston Police Chief Troy Finner announced theinitiative in February 2022, they vowed to file suit against businesses deemed as crime hot spots.
"They don't want that element present," Neal said."They want the city to come in and provide the police protection that they pay the taxes for and protect them." "We rely on information from HPD and we rely on the body of case law that looks at what level of instances, and whether the owners have done anything to remediate," Michel said."It's on a case-by-case basis. It's not an exact objective determination. There is a lot of subjectivity that goes into it, but we have an entire section of the legal department that looks at that continuously.
"One of the penalties is the city can come in and turn off your utilities," Neal explained."The city can come in and revoke your certificate of occupancy. Another penalty is the city can force the landlord to come in and terminate your lease. One of them says if you violate the injunction, you can be put in jail."
He said the statute was not meant to shut down tax-paying businesses that are not stopping criminals."Now if you shut down this convenience store, do you think you've stopped crime?" Neal asked."No, you've just moved it down the street. It's done nothing but make the city look like they accomplished something by taking some action or maybe putting $10,000 in someone's pocket as a penalty.
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