DALLAS — A civil lawsuit filed last week on behalf of the City of Dallas claims a commercial retail strip has become a "haven for gangs and drug dealers."
The retail strip located at 11740 Ferguson Road in Far East Dallas includes one vacant and five occupied suites, which the following businesses operate out of:
- Fast Stop Food Mart
- Primetime Tax
- Cliff's Check Cashing
- Taqueria Famosita
- New Spa Nail 4 U
The lawsuit alleges that since 2016, gang members and other suspects have used the area to sell drugs, rob and assault people, and even kill victims.
According to legal documents, defendants Century Ferguson LLC acquired the commercial property in January 2007. David Cheung is also named in the lawsuit. He is the director of Century Ferguson and manages the property.
The business has not yet filed a response to the suit.
The lawsuit says the City of Dallas addressed the reoccurring crimes by conducting police operations and routine police patrol investigations, but the lawsuit claims the owner has failed to address and implement measures to stop crime on the property.
"Instead they allow the business customers who visit the property to become crime victims," the lawsuit says.
Previous lawsuit
In December of 2017, the city filed a lawsuit against Century Ferguson, alleging the company was maintaining a place where people were habitually going to commit crimes such as illegal drug possession, robberies, and killings.
Then in August 2018, the court signed an agreed permanent injunction that ordered Century Ferguson to "immediately cease and desist from maintaining a property as a common nuisance."
But despite court orders, Century Ferguson continued to keep the property open, the lawsuit says.
The City says because of this, more crimes occurred at the northeast Dallas retail strip.
The lawsuit lists that the following incidents occurred from Jan. 1, 2019, to Jan. 26, 2020:
- Eight incidents of delivery, possession, manufacture or use of a substance
- Three robberies
- One incident of unlawfully carrying a weapon
- One murder
- One criminal trespassing incident
- One incident of criminal mischief that caused a loss of $500 or more
More crime:
In October 2019, the City sent Century Ferguson a letter notifying the company about the numerous incidents occurring, but the lawsuit says crime still continued to take place.
The lawsuit alleges that on Nov. 14, 2019, a man approached a person who was leaving Cliff's Check Cashing and asked him for $20. But when the person refused to give the suspect money, the two got into a fight.
Two different men allegedly joined the fight and punched the customer in the head and ribs. At that point, the three men knocked the victim to the ground and stole his wallet, according to the lawsuit.
Court documents state security was not present on the property during the incident.
On Dec. 20, 2019, a different person stopped at Cliff's Checking Cashing and Fast Stop Food Mart. He was struck from behind while leaving the food mart and knocked to the ground, according to the lawsuit. Three men then allegedly took the victim's phone and wallet.
Then on Dec. 27, 2019, police were "conducting a routine investigation" when they saw a man loitering in front of Fast Stop Food Mart. Detectives later discovered this man had several outstanding warrants and 37.2 grams of marijuana in his possession.
The lawsuit states that security was not present for either of the incidents.
In addition to the alleged crimes previously listed, the City claims several businesses in the retail strip violated safety codes and standards during an investigation on Jan. 14, 2020.
The City says these violations could result in injuries of people who are on the property. The City is requesting that the court order the property to be closed for one year after the date of the judgment.
The lawsuit also requests that if the defendants were to violate the injunctive order that the city revokes public access to the property and any other legal remedies.
More on WFAA:
- Some Dallas businesses are hot spots for drugs and violence. The City wants to shut them down.
- South Dallas car wash known as a 'magnet for crime' to close, city board decides
- Suburban cities near Dallas seeing uptick in violent crime
- Dallas police chief faces tough questions from city council on crime plan
