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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/fortbend/news/6292514.html

E-mails about restaurant robberies ‘bogus’, police say

By ZEN T.C. ZHENG and ALLAN TURNER Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle

March 3, 2009, 9:44PM

Spreading from e-mail to e-mail , the stories of robberies in southwest
Houston’s “Asiatown” grew more alarming with each retelling: Gangs of six
to 15 gunmen preyed on diners while police ate nearby. Robbers forced a
private guard to stand outside in a fountain while knocking off a noodle shop
at a popular shopping mall.

By the time a string of the e-mails hit City Hall last week — the sender
opined that Houston had fallen to the chaotic state of Batman’s Gotham City
— the list of victimized eateries had grown to nine.

The problem is there’s no evidence most of the stories are true.

Janet Chiu, manager of Tan Tan, one of the purportedly robbed restaurants,
said the tales caused business to drop by 20 percent. “It’s more Dead Town
than Asiatown,” she complained, voicing a strident denial that her cafe had
been robbed.

Houston police said only three restaurant robberies were reported in the area
in recent months.

On Jan. 7, two men robbed Thuan Kieu Com Tam, 10792 Bellaire, targeting seven
customers, said police spokesman John Cannon. The pair struck again the next
day at Tau Bay, 8282 Bellaire, but later were arrested.

The third stickup occurred Jan. 23 at Le Viet, a west Houston Vietnamese
restaurant about three miles from the Asian business district’s heart. That
time, two gunmen relieved a dozen diners of valuables while management
huddled in a cooler calling police.

Police officer Lilly Yep, who works the Asiatown beat, says investigations of
robberies cited in the e-mails proved the reports “bogus.”

“From my knowledge, it’s rumors,” she said. “It’s a case of someone
sending 15 e-mails and then each of those people sending 15 more.”

Yep suggested the cyber gossip might be the work of disgruntled employees.

Deeper concerns
The panicky restaurant e-mails, though, seemingly grow out of a deeper
concern about crime in the neighborhood, which centers on Beltway 8 and
Bellaire Boulevard.

City Councilman M.J. Khan, whose District F includes much of the densely
commercial neighborhood, said crime is a top concern of area residents and
business people. But, he added, “I would not alarm people by saying a wave
of crime specifically has targeted that area.”

Asiatown’s most serious incident occurred in February 2008 when Zhiyuan “
Ryan” Chen, 26, a Chinese student at Texas Southern University, was fatally
shot as he talked on his cell phone outside the Tan Do restaurant in the 9300
block of Bellaire.

In December, employees said, a Hong Kong City Mall noodle shop was robbed of
the day’s receipts after a gunman jammed a pistol to the head of a
6-year-old child.

Michael Liu, a volunteer at a Chinese hot line funded by the Sugar Land
Police Department, said he has fielded multiple calls from Sugar Land
residents who believe they’ve been followed home from Asiatown. One woman,
he said, was robbed.

Asiatown, he said, “isn’t as safe as it used to be. I can’t imagine eating
there in the evening and then taking a walk on the street anymore.”

Kenneth Li, who is chairman of the Asian American Business Council and the
Greater Sharpstown Management District, said a number of measures have been
taken to make the area safer. The Sharpstown group employs constables to
patrol business and residential areas, he said.

Not calling the law
Regular community meetings are held to discuss security and other concerns,
he said, and security cameras and improved lighting have been installed at
some businesses. Later this year, Houston police are scheduled to open
another are substation.

Khan suggested crimes may be occurring in Asiatown that aren’t reported to
police. Language barriers, fear of retaliation, immigrants’ bad experience
with police in their home countries — all may contribute to such reluctance
to call the law, he said.

Others noted restaurant owners might opt not to report crimes because they
fear the notoriety will cost them business.


http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/alief/news/6296175.html

Police to increase patrols in 'Asiatown'

By ALLAN TURNER and ZEN T.C. ZHENG Copyright 2009 HOUSTON CHRONICLE

March 5, 2009, 9:13PM

Responding to emails detailing purported robberies in “Asiatown”
restaurants, Mayor Bill White has pledged to increase police patrols in the
southwest Houston neighborhood. Police earlier had expressed doubt that many
of the reported crimes had occurred.

“We do see crime in this area,” said Rogene Gee Calvert, city director of
personnel and volunteer initiatives and the mayor’s liaison with the
Asian-American community. “Just because there have been a couple of
incidents for which there’s been no validation doesn’t mean these reports
should be ignored.”

Police spokesman John Cannon said Thursday his department is preparing to
deploy its 60-officer Crime Reduction Unit to the neighborhood, which centers
on the intersection of Beltway 8 and Bellaire Boulevard.

The citywide tactical unit was created in November 2007 to address rising
robberies and narcotics and property crimes in designated neighborhoods. “
There will be increased patrols by uniformed officers in marked cars,”
Cannon said, “but there will be just as many operating undercover. Of
course, we’re not going to reveal the specifics.”

White’s action came after he received a string of emails dealing with at
least 10 supposed recent robberies. Cannon said police had official reports
of three crimes, one of which occurred at a restaurant 3 miles from Asiatown.
Police Sgt. Lily Yep, who works the Asiatown beat and was involved in
investigating the reports, said most of the cases were rumors.

But former state Rep. Martha Wong said Thursday said she believes Asiatown’s
fear of crime is based in reality.

“I don’t eat out there at night unless there’s a big party and I’m with a
male,” Wong said. “I don’t wear my jewelry. And, I’m not alone. Whether
or not all the reports are true, people are afraid. I think that Asians are
easy targets.”

Noting that he is “particularly sensitive” to cases of criminals targeting
neighborhoods or ethnic groups, White urged Asiatown crime victims to report
crimes to police.

“Sometimes,” White wrote in an email to a man who sent him a string of
emails from community residents, “our response is delayed when people do not
report crimes. We trace concentration of criminal activity with a real-time
crime center.”

If crimes go unreported, Cannon said, police have no idea where problems
exist.

“Many of our businesspeople come from a culture in which they couldn’t
trust police,” Calvert said. “It takes them a while to learn that police
are an institution they can trust. Also, it’s a cultural thing not to get
involved, not to speak up.”

Calvert she senses “major fear” about crime in the neighborhood. “I was
hit last week with emails everyday,” she said.

Calvert said bustling, prosperous Asiatown may be attracting criminals from
outside the neighborhood.


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People assume that time is a strict progression　　 　　 　　Ⅱ vworp~!
of cause to effect. But actually, from a non-　　 ▅█▅ vworp~!
linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like 卄卄▌
a big ball of wibbly-wobbly...timey-wimey... ■■▌
stuff. ■■▌
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