On July 25, I reported that Mi Piaci had been locked out of their restaurant in North Dallas. I published a picture of the overlock notice posted in the front door. Late yesterday, I was contacted by Stephanie Curtis, the legal counsel for Mi Piaci restaurants.
I am counsel for Mi Piaci restaurants. This communication is in response to your blog written for D Magazine on June 25th posted at 2:26 pm. The message you received that the A/C wasn’t working was true. It was also true that the landlord, Prestonwood Pond, LLC, and those purporting to act on its behalf, namely Alan Aguilar of SAS & Associates, Inc., Property Manager, not only wrongfully locked out the business, but committed criminal trespassing and removed property, unplugged all the coolers containing food, busted the thermostats and turned them to heat in mid-July, and vandalized the premises in other ways.
On July 25th, Mi Piaci ‘s lawyers obtained a Writ of Reentry to the premises before noon making the picture posted on your blog an untrue account of the facts at that time.
I asked Ms. Curtis to send me a copy of the Writ of Reentry. After I reviewed the document, I noted the time stamp of 2:20pm. My post went up at 2:26pm. When I asked her to clarify, she said the hearing was at 10am and she considered the facts of my post untrue.I’m not sure why they waited six days to contact me, but I’ve posted her entire note to me which continues below.
What is true is that Brian Black and his wife Sonia have two lawsuits filed against their Mi Piaci business in North Dallas. One by the aforementioned landlord, the other from an unpaid vendor. I asked Ms. Curtis if the Blacks have paid the back rent owed to the landlord and she replied,”Yes, they have overpaid it.” Jump for the rest of her correspondence.
On July 30th, Mi Piaci ‘s lawyers filed legal action against the landlord and others and obtained a Temporary Restraining Order against Prestonwood Pond, LLC, SAS & Associates, Inc., Shira Investment Corporation, Alan Aguilar, Michael Aguilar, and Raul Aguilar from causing further damage to the business, interfering with the operations of the restaurant, blocking the company’s or its customer’s access to the building, or from further removing or destroying Mi Piaci’s property.
On July 31st, the Aguilars were supposed to attend a hearing to challenge the Writ of Reentry, but they and their lawyers failed to show and instead continued to block the company’s and its customer’s access to the premises and interfere with the restaurant’s ability to do business despite the two court orders, attached.
As a result, Judge Seider has set a hearing on Monday, August 5th at 10:00am where the Aguilars and their lawyer must appear and “show cause” as to why they should not be held in contempt of court for their wrongful actions. Mi Piaci’s owner will be seeking sanctions against the Aguilars and those in concert with them.
Mi Piaci is still launching its second location in the Park Cities set to open August 2013.
Thank you for your time,
Kindest regards
Stephanie Curtis
