{"id":8515,"date":"2025-10-17T15:34:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T15:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/8515\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T15:34:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T15:34:11","slug":"how-a-texas-crime-den-raided-by-police-threatened-its-neighbor-shops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/8515\/","title":{"rendered":"How a Texas ‘crime den’ raided by police threatened its neighbor shops"},"content":{"rendered":"

On September 26, Austin Police Department, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC), the FBI, Austin Fire Department, APD’s SWAT team and several other agencies carried out an operation<\/a>, the likes of which Austinites normally only ever see in movies. The agencies served search warrants to several businesses in the 900 E. Braker Lane strip, but it was quickly apparent that two clubs were the hotbeds of reported criminal activity:\u00a0Diablas adult club and\u00a0Michelebos sports bar. This raid resulted in three arrests and\u00a0the seizure of firearms, illegal gambling machines and the issuance of citations for code and fire marshal violations.<\/p>\n

All of this comes after years of complaints about the businesses and a Place Network Investigation (PNI) which showed that in one year alone (2023), 900 E. Braker Lane had 430 calls for law enforcement service, 78 arrests, 10 shots fired, 30 guns seized and one homicide.<\/p>\n

In a conference the week after the raid, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis, TABC Chief Ron Swenson\u00a0and AFD Fire Marshal Stephen Truesdell were among those who spoke about the operation and the investigation leading up to it.<\/p>\n

“This is an area that has been identified as a persistent violent crime hotspot with many complaints,” Davis said in the conference<\/a>. “We are talking shootings, stabbings – the gamut.”<\/p>\n

At this point, Michelobos has been forced to close for 90 days, both businesses have been forced to stop illegally selling alcohol and The City of Austin has filed a lawsuit specifically targeting Michelobos and Diablas. The hope is to shut both businesses down permanently and find out how the owners may be involved in a larger criminal syndicate, and ultimately putting a stop to that.<\/p>\n

“It’s called a nuisance abatement action,” says Bianca Bentzin, Chief Prosecutor for the City of Austin, further clarifying that the lawsuit is specifically filed against the Walnut Ridge Shopping Center, the LLC that owns 900 E. Braker Lane; Thomas Calhoon, the manager of Walnut Ridge Shopping Center; Michelobos Restaurant and Sports Bar; Diablas;\u00a0Luis Sol-Rivas,\u00a0owner of Michelobos and Diablas;\u00a0and Rene Martinez, manager of Diablas.<\/p>\n

“The current status is they have been successfully served with a lawsuit, and they are now on their statutory deadline to file their response, which is in early November,” says Bentzin.<\/p>\n

But for several other business owners at 900 E. Braker Lane – many of whom have lost customers, feel unsafe at work and have even shuttered their shops in the past year – this may all be too little too late.<\/p>\n

\"Michelobos<\/p>\n

Michelobos exterior at the Austin shopping center on 900 Braker Lane. (Natalie Grigson for MySA)<\/p>\n

Venus Event Center shut down<\/p>\n

Venus Event Center was at 900 E. Braker Lane for years before they shuttered their doors last year. Owner Miriam Hernandez says this was because of Michelobos and Diablas, which she describes as a “crime den.”<\/p>\n

“Once during [an evening] baptism, bullets came in through our event center,” Hernandez says, adding, “Everyone at the shopping center has been impacted. But a lot of people don’t want to speak up because it’s illicit things they’re doing, and they have money and they can go after you.”<\/p>\n

“I’m happy that Michelobos is closed for now for the tenants who are still there, but I think [Sol-Rivas] will do it again,” she says.<\/p>\n

\"Boost<\/p>\n

Boost Mobile exterior at the Austin shopping center on 900 Braker Lane. (Natalie Grigson for MySA)<\/p>\n

Boost Mobile is losing customers<\/p>\n

Boost Mobile, sandwiched in between Diablas and Michelobos, has seen a serious loss of customers due to the area’s high crime, according to store manager Sam.<\/p>\n

“It’s affecting all of the businesses,” he says, asking, “Would you want to go somewhere [like this] to shop around? Of course not. Anyone would be scared to go into a high crime area.”<\/p>\n

While Sam hasn’t seen the crime directly because of Boost Mobile’s daytime store hours, he was there during the September 26 police raid.<\/p>\n

“When police came, we knew something was going on,” he says, adding that of course he is scared and confused. “We don’t know what is going on [with the investigation]. We don’t have the full picture.”<\/p>\n

\"Austin<\/p>\n

Austin shopping center on 900 Braker Lane. (Natalie Grigson for MySA)<\/p>\n

Formal Nails goes largely unaffected<\/p>\n

Formal Nails manager, Lisa, says she has been in this shopping center for 23 years and over that time has built up an extremely loyal customer base. Nail technicians often have the same sort of loyal clientele as a trusted family doctor \u2013 these are the types of relationships people keep for decades.<\/p>\n

Perhaps this is why, Lisa says, her business has been largely unaffected by the surge in crime in the shopping center. The store’s hours also play a role.<\/p>\n

“We open at 9 AM and close before it gets dark,” she says. “So we hear rumors about what happens here, but we don’t ever see it.”<\/p>\n

Some other businesses in the shopping center that were unavailable for comment include Tortilleria Rio Grande, J Clips Barber and Beauty, Cheers Liquor, and a supermarket that, according to Hernandez, is also owned by Sol-Rivas. According to the recent news conference, other businesses in the strip, including a Jack in the Box, have shut down in the past year due to the crime.<\/p>\n

This article originally published at How a Texas ‘crime den’ raided by police threatened its neighbor shops<\/a>.<\/p>\n