It's time to bang the gangs on Lowest Greenville

Over the past year, there has been a steady increase in the amount of gang activity in Lowest Greenville bars. Don't get all shocked and surprised, it's not like you did not know we had a problem. And the Dallas Police Department faithfully reports every incident (although the details may be lacking) every weekend to the neighborhood residents.

Back in October, BD joked that you only see white folks in polo shirts down here when they are trying to find their way to a good restaurant and the cabbie did not speak enough English to understand the difference between Lowest Greenville (bars) and Lower Greenville (restaurants north of Vickery).

A few weeks ago, Tango Blast, a prison gang, held a convention down here, resulting in five arrests inside Ibero Bar. Ibero was busted a few weeks ago for not having a valid Certificate of Occupancy, but yet they remain open, thanks to a City Attorney who was part of the code enforcement sweep.

On Friday morning at Club 180 (owned by the same folks who own Ibero Bar), Tango Blast made another appearance. According to the DPD summary posted this Sunday morning...

On 12/4/09 at around 2:00 am, a fight broke out at 1917 Greenville (Club 180). It was stated to the responding officers that the manager of Club 180 (told) individuals inside Club 180 that if they weren't representing Tango Blast, to get out. I have since spoken with Mr. Salinas (club owner) regarding the issue and he stated that he would begin enforce a dress code.

DPD Offense Reports #W358168 and #358166 have more details about these incidents.

On Friday night, Salinas is reported to have told a DPD officer he would not enforce any dress code at his clubs, making him the only business (bar or restaurant) in the area not even trying to bring a little sanity (and safety) to the street. So if the other bars kick out the gang members, then he gets all the business, right?

There were two reports of car windows being smashed while parked at the 5500 block of Lewis, right off Greenville Avenue, at 2am.

And on Sunday morning, there was an armed carjacking at the Lowest Greenville Shell Station - per the DPD weekend report...

There was aggravated robbery at the Shell Station on Belmont and Greenville around 2:39 am. Three Latin male suspects approached the complainant in a gold Lexus, pointed a hand gun at his head and took the vehicle. The suspects were last seen going north on Greenville in the victim's vehicle and in a gold Tahoe or Yukon. Officers saturated the area but could not locate the suspects.

The offense reports for the carjacking have been posted to the DPD's website - 0359802W and 0359814W. It's interesting to note that neither report flags this incident as a gang-related issue.

The DPD has told the neighborhood associations they have gang unit officers on the street. BD saw them last week checking out some thug's drivers license on the 7-Eleven parking lot. These are probably the same officers who responded to - and shot - an ATM robbery suspect in the back yard of a house on Winton Street near MacMillan.

BD knows of one restaurant (a real restaurant, with years of being in business) that almost closed its doors a few weeks ago. They eventually renewed their lease for one year, but mentally they are already out of here. The few legitimate restaurants on Lowest Greenville are fighting tooth and nail to stay in business, but when your customers drive down here, are forced to pay $10 or more for a parking space, and see 25 or more police officers standing on all the corners, the first thing going through their mind is - This is just not worth my life.

After BD posted his story about the TXU gift card earlier this week, Salinas was all over BD's doggy butt...

I would really appreciate it if you could quit making false statements about me personally. Business is one thing, and my personal life is another. I just need to find out who is paying you to write all these false statements about me.

Nobody has to pay BD to write about this human garbage, but he is sure getting tired of doing it. And if Salinas thinks the statements are false, he can call the DPD Central Division and ask them to correct their weekend reports (since BD has not been on the street for about a month). That ain't gonna happen.

BD has no problem admitting he supported Ibero when it opened as a restaurant nearly two years ago - he even helped design their first website. It served real food, and they tried to be a trendsetter. But when you have to pay $10,000 a month in rent ($5000 each for 180 and Ibero), selling food ain't enough. When Ibero turned south, BD had no problem letting Salinas take the website. Their current website features breasts, but they are not the edible kind.

It's time to bang the gangs on Lowest Greenville, starting at the source - the clubs that encourage Tango Blast and other gangbangers to come down here: Ibero and 180.

The Ibero Bar is showing the Certificate of Occupancy for the Ali Baba World Cafe, the previous occupant of that space; they have been gone for nearly three years, moving to the safer Lakewood area.

According to the City's database of Certificate of Occupancies, Inspections, and other contractor activities, the last CO issued to this address (1905 Greenville) was for Ali Baba Chicken in 1990 -

Why can't the City Attorney grew a set of testicles and shut Ibero down until they get a new CO under their real name? Let Salinas file the papers claiming to be a restaurant, and then make him prove it with a 75/25 audit before he gets a new CO.

Is the fact that Salinas is an alternate appointee to the City's Board of Adjustment (appointed by Garcia, heldover by Jasso) give him a pass when it comes to code compliance?

Or does the fact that he is the only Hispanic club owner in that small portion of Lowest Greenville represented by City Council Member Pauline Medrano give him a Do Not Go To Jail card?

Inquiring minds want to know, and we want to know now. Before someone gets killed.