Surveillance video from a car lot across the street showed 2 men removing a long object — later identified as a bench — from Late Nite Pie not long before the Midtown pizza joint at 302 Tuam St. went up in flames in the early morning hours of February 8th. 10 minutes later in the video footage, after the bench removers had driven off and as smoke rose from the west side and southwest corner of the building, a man is seen exiting through the front door, hesitating, then driving off in a Chevy Astro van. Police have now charged that man, identified as Raymond Pecher, the restaurant’s former day shift manager, with arson.
- Manager of Midtown pizza restaurant charged with arson [KHOU]
- Raymond Pecher, Late Nite Pie Manager, Accused Of Arson (Read The Criminal Complaint) [Hair Balls]
- Previously on Swamplot: Headlines: Virgin Mary in Garden Oaks; Early Morning Fire at Late Nite Pie, Will Late Nite Pie Rise Again?, Late Night Pie Scheduled To Reopen Monday, The Late Late Night Pie, Latest on the Late Late Night Pie Location
Photo: Candace Garcia
Yes, those bees were under camera surveillance; don’t even think they aren’t watching the radishes too. 
Complaints from 3 suburban homeowners’ associations — including the one for the Estates of Avalon at Seven Meadows gated community west of the Grand Parkway near Fry Rd. in Katy — have been filed against Arrow Community Management, alleging the Cinco Ranch management company misappropriated HOA funds. Arrow’s owner, Taggert Mayfield, received a sentence of 3 years’ deferred adjudication earlier this month after he pled guilty to mishandling $20,000 in HOA funds. 
Four people believed to be the owners of the Capri Game Room at 10418 Telephone Rd. (just north of Fuqua) were arrested recently on misdemeanor gambling-related charges, Craig Malisow reports. 
Murder charges have been dismissed against 48-year-old twins Edwin and Edward Berndt, who let their mother lie on the foyer floor of their Meadowbrook Freeway home for 3 days after she slipped and fell— and then left her body to rot in place for 3 months after she died there. The Berndt’s attorney, Robert Scardino, has claimed the twins were born mentally disabled and had depended on their mother for their care. He described the scene investigators found at 8402 Glenscott St. to 11 News reporter Courtney Zubowski back in May: “It doesn’t appear that there was any hygiene [or] baths or showers taken. There was water, but it was trickling water. There was no air conditioning. There were a lot of empty popcorn bags in the house. There were a lot of broken egg shells in the house and a lot of empty tin cans where they were eating food out of a tin can which indicated to me there wasn’t any grocery shopping. . . . 
