Tag: Crime

Crime
03/07/11 12:17pm

The Corruption Trials Behind the Astrodome’s Lost Decade

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Development Strategies, Redevelopment, Reliant Park
6 Comments

Any explanation for why a county agency spent 10 years allowing the Astrodome fall into disrepair while haplessly throwing millions of dollars after a sequence of doomed and bizarre plans to redevelop it would have to focus on the thoughtful stewardship of Michael Surface, who presided over the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation from 1999 until his resignation at the end of 2007. Surface’s trial on corruption charges isn’t scheduled to take place until this fall. But jury selection for the trial of his partner in the 5-count federal indictment, Precinct 4 commissioner Jerry Eversole, begins today.

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Buying and Selling
01/27/11 11:52am

A Look Inside the Uptown Park House Leslie Tyler Fink May Have To Turn Over to the Feds

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Crime, Fraud, Wynden Oaks Estates
22 Comments

Will the rumored reality TV show featuring Leslie Tyler Fink ever reach the airwaves? Or are these listing pics the best view you’ll ever get of the house the “lifestyle expert” and her husband (pictured at left) own in a gated subdivision just west of Uptown Park, and which the U.S. Attorney’s office has identified as “property involved in, or traceable to, money laundering”? Leslie and Randy Fink bought the the 4,096-sq.-ft. home at 5 Wynden Oaks Dr. 2 years ago for $740,000 in cash, but the entire amount (plus an additional $8,980 to cover closing costs) was wired in for the closing courtesy of Leslie’s pal Jonathan Barnes — as a gift, the Chronicle‘s Tom Fowler reported last week. How generous! Sadly, Barnes — who worked as a marine chartering manager at Houston Refining (now part of LyondellBasell), was indicted late last year along with two oil traders for his involvement in a multi-million-dollar kickback scheme. According to the Feds, Barnes’s thoughtful house gift came from funds “traceable to . . . unlawful activity,” and the ill-gotten property, which is named as the plaintiff in a complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s office, is therefore subject to forfeiture if Barnes is convicted. Isn”t this exactly the kind of stuff great reality TV shows are built from?

“Drama right?! . . . This is going to be one of the episodes for the show,” the apparently unflappable Fink — who identifies herself as “princess of the modern Houstonian socialites” on one of her websites — declared last week in an email she sent to CultureMap’s Shelby Hodge. Can’t wait to see footage of the parties!

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Houston History
12/06/10 3:06pm

But It Was Worth It

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Quicklink
1 Comment

BUT IT WAS WORTH IT “‘…the most miserable place in the world. . . .’ ‘Early reports from Houston said that when people came out on any given morning you could find as many as four bodies lying dead in the streets, victims of the previous night’s mayhem.’ You’d be forgiven if you thought this was the Houston of today. But actually this is Houston in the 1830s.” — Chronicle blogger J.R. Gonzales, discussing Houston: A Nation’s Capitol, Houston Arts & Media’s new feature-length documentary about the early development of this city. [Bayou City History] Trailer: Houston Arts & Media

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Comments
11/16/10 3:24pm

Comment of the Day: Crime Block

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Crime, Quicklink, Security
2 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: CRIME BLOCK “Does having a wall at a dead end street make it more secure? In some ways, criminals may be safer where no one can see them during the day, or night. The wall may act as a buffer for thieves instead of hindering their action. There are many stories in the neighborhood where high walls and fences encouraged thieves. Typically, pedestrian areas seem to be more safe since there is always someone watching. So I’m not sure about the safety for those residents on the dead end street with just a wall.” [Montrose Slums, commenting on Open and Shut: The Montrose H-E-B’s Pedestrian Gates]

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Crime
11/10/10 10:12am

Indoor Tropical Gardening in La Marque

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Gardening, La Marque
18 Comments

Galveston County Sheriff’s deputies, La Marque and Texas City Police, and officials from the Texas DPS Narcotics unit gathered for a garden tour yesterday in the back building of the purported cabinet-making business of Gregory William Stanley, at the southeast corner of 5th St. and FM 519 in La Marque. Thanks to careful attention to air flow and insulation, Stanley had been able to keep law-enforcement officials off the scent of his 240-plant greenhouse for a while:

The pungent aroma of marijuana was evident only upon entering the metal building.

The building had an extra ridge vent to help push the marijuana smell through the roof, sheriff’s office Lt. Tommy Hansen said.

“It’s all insulated,” [Capt. Barry] Cook said. “Foam board on the walls, silver insulating materials on the ceiling, and ultraviolet lights to help these plants.”

Oscillating fans still were blowing air through the rooms as authorities photographed the evidence.

“There’s a ventilation, heating and lighting system, and they’ve got fans moving the air to keep it cool and damp in here,” Cook said.

Video: Galveston County Daily News

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Art
11/02/10 2:18pm

How You Can Help Large-Scale Graffiti in Midtown Get Off the Ground

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Buildlings for Sale, Graffiti, Land for Sale, Midtown, Public Art
22 Comments

Street artist Daniel Anguilu hopes to cover the entire surface of this 4-story Midtown building with his distinctive animal-friendly murals. Anguilu — also known by his nom-de-spray, weah — began painting the former Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority building at 2850 Fannin St. in June. But it’s not exactly a stealth project: Anguilu was invited to take on what he’s calling the Public Decor Project by commercial real-estate broker Adam Brackman, whose family owns the building. And Brackman’s been providing him with mistinted no-VOC paint from New Living, the Rice Village green-home-supplies store where Brackman’s a partner.

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Crime
10/04/10 10:42am

Calculating Danger in Galveston

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Galveston, Quicklink, The Strand
2 Comments

CALCULATING DANGER IN GALVESTON The data miners behind the Neighborhood Scout website have declared a small but notable section of Galveston to be the 21st most dangerous neighborhood in the U.S. — and the second most dangerous in Texas (the top state honor goes to #15, an area near E. Lancaster Ave. in Ft. Worth). Working from secure offices in Rhode Island using the company’s “patented, patent-pending, exclusive or proprietary” data, Neighborhood Scout calculates residents of the area in Galveston from 19th to 26th streets between Broadway and Harborside (labeled the Church St. neighborhood) have a 1 in 11 chance of becoming a crime victim over a 1-year period. No, the risks of becoming a storm or flooding victim appear to have had no effect on the rankings. Included in that little hood: The heart of Galveston’s Strand Historic District. [Wallet Pop; details]

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Crime
09/29/10 12:25pm

The Tale of the Enterprising Renovators

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Fires, Hazards, Quicklink, South Acres
1 Comment

THE TALE OF THE ENTERPRISING RENOVATORS The owner of the South Acres house where that angel dust lab burst into flames last night told arson investigators he hadn’t been living at home because it was being worked on, and didn’t know anything about any drug manufacturing operation going on in his single-car garage. Neighbors living a couple blocks away from the tiny Donegal Way cul-de-sac off Akard St. south of Sims Bayou said their houses were shaken by the explosion, and observers reported seeing flames leap 20 to 30 feet into the air. “The investigators said they are planning to question the people renovating the home.” [MyFox Houston]

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Apartments
09/28/10 10:54am

A Neighbor’s Plans for the West Alabama Skylanes

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Buying and Selling, First Montrose Commons, Foreclosures, Montrose, Real Estate Investing, Westmoreland
33 Comments

The new owner of the 2 “infamous” Skylane apartment complexes on West Alabama is already at work making changes. Montrose apartment investor and real-estate agent Cody Lutsch picked up the 2 foreclosed and red-tagged properties from Enterprise Bank earlier this month. For the 25-unit building at 502 West Alabama (on the corner of Garrott), Lutsch has plans to replace the window units with small ductless split A/C systems, fix some structural issues, switch to monthly instead of weekly rentals, and change the name. Also: He’d like to reduce the crime associated with the property, by adding gates, lights, security cameras, larger trash bins, and maintaining the landscaping.

Lutsch has fewer changes planned for the 32-unit Skylane across the street from Spur 527 at 219 West Alabama (above): He says he’s already begun addressing criminal and safety issues at the property, but otherwise plans to let it run “as it’s been running,” as a pay-by-the-week complex. Lutsch says he hadn’t planned to buy that property originally, but decided the property’s land size, rental income, and location might make it attractive to other investors later on.

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Candlelight Trails
09/16/10 11:09am

Candlelight Trails Is Going Down

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Condos, Inwood Forest, Neighborhood Disputes, Quicklink
5 Comments

CANDLELIGHT TRAILS IS GOING DOWN The demolition of the 11-acre Candlelight Trails empty-condos-and-crime site could begin as early as today. Officials at city hall tell 11 News reporter Sherry Williams that a judge approved the demolition of the abandoned complex — in the 5500 and 5600 blocks of DeSoto, off Antoine north of Tidwell — this morning: “The city recently sued about 150 of the condo owners to get them to sign off on the demolition. Some of those lawsuits added up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties. . . . ‘As long as they agree to sign over their title to the city, then we’re not going after them for money,’ said Houston City Councilwoman Jolanda Jones. ‘It’s really sad that they bought into a place where the people who ran it absconded with their money, but I’m thankful that we are not further, I don’t know, kicking them while they’re down.’” Update: The demolition is now scheduled to begin at 1:30 pm, according to the Near Northwest Management District. [KHOU; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Matt Stiles

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Crime
08/12/10 12:48pm

Greenspoint Apartment Takeover

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Foreclosures, Greenspoint, Quicklink, Renovations
7 Comments

GREENSPOINT APARTMENT TAKEOVER A Houston firm that took over management of 3 foreclosed Greenspoint-area apartment complexes last month says it’s working with the HPD to open a police substation in one of them. Kaplan Management Co. VP Michelle Rhone tells reporter Jennifer Duell Popovec that the complexes — City View Place Apartments, Cambridge at City View, and Springfield at City View — became “a haven for criminals” during the 5 years the properties were owned by New York’s GFI Capital. The substation would be located at City View Place, at 16818 City View Place, east of Greenspoint Mall next to Greens Bayou. “Moreover, the company has created a plan to establish a number of civic programs to serve the City Place assets including a wellness clinic, tutoring from Houston Independent School District, vocational training and YMCA swimming lessons. Additionally, Kaplan will work with CW Capital to address deferred maintenance issues, Rhone says. The lender has already invested $100,000 to address immediate maintenance needs at the properties, she adds.” [Globe St.]

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Buying and Selling
07/21/10 2:23pm

Comment of the Day: Deal Killers

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Comments, Crime, Quicklink, Real Estate Marketing
18 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: DEAL KILLERS “. . . the fact of someone breathing their last at a property holds no ick factor for me. Once, at a Closing, in that long interval where you are waiting for copies, the little old lady Seller told me about her boyfriend dying at the house I had just bought. Didn’t creep me out at all– just a sweet sad tale. But . . . I am really curious as to what house history would be a deal breaker for you all. [Death] by natural causes? By violence? Creepy perpetrators of off-site crimes?” [Harold Mandell, commenting on A Swank Modern Meyerland Home with a Record]

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Crime
07/20/10 3:49pm

A Swank Modern Meyerland Home with a Record

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Homes for Sale, Houston Architects, Interiors, Meyerland, Renovations
32 Comments

Modern architecture fans in Houston have been whispering about this 1964 Meyerland home ever since it went on the market late last month. Houston Mod featured it as its “Mod of the Month” open house a couple of weeks ago. Commenters on a Swamplot post about another modern-era home have also been discussing the 3,172-sq.-ft. home, which sits just a couple blocks north of Brays Bayou. As one of them noted, it’s the former home of Houston architect John R. Dossey, who bought it with his wife more than a decade ago and renovated it extensively.

If that name sounds familiar, it might be because Dossey pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to possession of child pornography. The charges stemmed from the stakeout by an FBI unit in March of a feeder-road pay-by-the-hour Scottish Inn & Suites hotel in southwest Houston, where Dossey was arrested in the company of a 16-year-old prostitute. Dossey admitted to taking photos of the girl, and a later search of his home on Manhattan Dr. (yes, pictured here) netted his computers, the inevitable forensic hard-drive search, and the child pornography charge.

Dossey, who’s been in custody without bond ever since, transferred ownership of the home — and the 12,755-sq.-ft. lot next door — in May. And yes . . . both are now for sale! Which means you can conduct a little surveillance of the scene on your own:

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Crime
06/24/10 10:36pm

Shawn Speer Will Not Stand for Wolf Urine on His Slab

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Homebuilders
5 Comments

A commenter on the TexAgs online forum is claiming that former Royce Builders vice president Shawn Speer called his supervisors and threatened him with the loss of his job. The fun started about a month ago when another forum participant, who goes by the name Comet*, complained online that workers constructing a house next door to his had been using water from his home without permission, leaving nails on the street and trash around the neighborhood. Comet* didn’t know who was building the home, but 2 days later, after several hours of phone calls, he received a call back from Shawn Speer. Comet*’s record of the conversation will likely be of interest to the many fans of bankrupt Royce Builders:

So I told him what was wrong, and he was extremely nice and will be doing a number of things to make sure that doesn’t happen. Went above what I expected, and I am very satisfied for now. No complaints at all anymore.

He said we’re not trying to hide who we are, I just ran out of signs, so that’s why there was no contact info on the lot.

me: So you’re just going by “Shawn Spears?”

s: Well, I have several companies and mentioned Travis homes as one of them (the only one I didn’t know Royce was working under).

But according to Comet* (or Comet*’s wife, who apparently also posts under the same account), the workers didn’t stop using the water spigot on his property. And then things started to escalate. Comet*’s wife wrote the next day:

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Landscape
06/14/10 10:24am

West U Fruit Tree Warning Update: Bilingual Protection

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Security, Signage, Trees, West University
11 Comments

Those of you who feared the appearance in Swamplot comments of a second warning sign might be the signal of an escalating fruit-tree security threat in West U need not be alarmed: It’s apparently nothing new. The reader who first sent in a photo of the best-protected fruit tree in town — on Tangley Rd. west of Buffalo Speedway — claims not to have even noticed that the second sign a few steps away was any different from the first. And yet it is! The uh, somewhat enhanced wording on the second sign is en Español.

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