SAN ANTONIO – A robbery is one of the latest problems for a Northwest Side convenience store.
San Antonio police records showed 53 calls for service in the last six months to the E-Z Mart on Dover Ridge. The calls, some of which could be for the same incidents, include everything from fights, thefts, narcotics to disturbances.
Following a Crime Stoppers story on a robbery at the store, a KSAT 12 viewer emailed to say that the E-Z Mart was a problem area. After visiting the neighborhood, we found that neighbors were divided on the issue.
"It's like a club in the middle of the night," Scott Weeth said.
Weeth lives next door to E-Z Mart. He doesn't think the store is good for the neighborhood.
"There are drug addicts there. Cops go there stopping drug deals," he said. "People hang out there. People loiter there all the time. You can drive by, day or night, and you'll see people loitering there."
A San Antonio police spokeswoman said two calls were for suspected transactions in the parking lot, but nothing was found.
Chris Ulmo lives down the street from Weeth and is new to the area. He thinks there's a negative perception of the 24-hour E-Z Mart, and it's not a place he'd go to late at night.
"I've seen people go there that I really wouldn't associate with,” Ulmo said.
Not everyone on their street has a problem with the store.
"It's so-so," said Daiana Garza, whose home is at the back of the store. "I mean, there's a lot of people that hang around."
Garza said her family hasn't had any problems. She did say she picks her daughter up from school across the street and sometimes worries about her safety.
But Garza said she "keeps her watch," and the people who hang out at the store stay away.
"They don't talk to us," she said. "They don't make any trouble, so I don't know if they're just waiting for their kids. I don't know what's the deal with them waiting outside."
KSAT reached out to a corporate spokeswoman for E-Z Mart, but we have not heard back.