East Lake Superette

From Bhamwiki
Revision as of 14:21, 29 September 2007 by Dystopos (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The Texaco Super Deli is a gas station and convenience store at 421 Oporto-Madrid Boulevard North (map) which has been owned and operated since 1990 by Ty Nguyen.

On August 17, 2007 customer Kathleen Bullard filed assault charges against Nguyen and his son Hieu. She claims he attacked her after she bought a bag of ice, mistakingly claiming that she stole it. He claims that she did steal the ice, and had done so before, and that when he confronted her, she took the first swing. The Nguyens are scheduled to appear at Birmingham Municipal Court on the charge September 25.

The incident was reported to the Birmingham City Council at their August 28 meeting, and a hearing was set for September 11. A boycott and picket line was organized outside the store on August 29 by Gwen Webb. The protests have continued each day.

At the hearing, the Council voted unanimously to revoke Nguyen's business and liquor licenses. Their determination that the business was a "public nuisance" was based on descriptions of mistreatment of customers by neighborhood residents and officers, by the number of reports of criminal activity at the store (most reported to police by Nguyen), and by a 2001 assault charge to which Nguyen had pleaded guilty. The Council rejected the advice of city attorney Tamara Johnson to wait until the criminal case had been heard before acting. The order to close was served on September 13.

On September 14, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Robert Vance granted a temporary restraining order blocking the city from closing the store. He later upheld the council's action at a September 27 hearing, ruling that their decision was not "arbitrary or capricious". Nguyen closed the store and locked up just after 11:00 AM on September 28. His lawyers plan to appeal Vance's ruling and have filed a motion in Vance's court to allow Nguyen to re-open while the appeal proceeds.

On September 25, the Nguyens pleaded not guilty to the assault charges in Municipal Court., and trial was set for March 3, 2008.

References

  • Bryant, Joseph D. (September 14, 2007). "North East Lake store to stay open on appeal." Birmingham News.
  • Singleton, William C. (September 13, 2007) "East Lake store closes after city serves order." Birmingham News.
  • Singleton, William C. (September 12, 2007) "Council revokes store's licenses." Birmingham News.
  • Singleton, William C. (September 11, 2007) "City to weigh license for embattled store." Birmingham News.
  • "Residents Speak Out On Behalf Of Texaco Owner." (September 12, 2007) WVTM-TV/MSNBC.
  • Singleton, William C. (September 29, 2007) "Judge lifts order, East Lake store closes." Birmingham News.

External link

Retrieved from "http://bhamwiki.com/w/index.php?title=East_Lake_Superette&oldid=24390"