Downstroke

Methican food: Maybe this explains why all those freaky tweakers like to hang out in the parking lot of Duke’s Cork & Bottle on Park Avenue: An employee of Crazy Taco, the taquería run out of Duke’s, has apparently been putting a little andale en los burritos. Acting on a tip last Friday, agents from the Butte Interagency Narcotics Task Force (BINTF) busted the shop for allegedly selling methamphetamine through the walk-up express window.

The main suspect in the operation, Juan Manuel Zepeda Rentería, 38, arrived at work driving what agents said was a stolen red Jeep Cherokee. As chance would have it, he drove up just as BINTF agents were conducting a search. When Rentería saw the agents, he fled on foot, according to a BINTF press release. When the car he had been driving was searched, agents reportedly found four grams of meth. At a concurrent search of his house, agents seized three firearms and some paraphernalia. Rentería is still on the loose, and Crazy Taco is still in business—BINTF spokesman Vic Lacey said the taquería owners were not involved in Rentería’s side business.

Get your tickets while you can: The El Rey Theatre has less than a month to go, a nearby business owner tells the CN&R. She said she was told by El Rey Manager Rick Gorman that the historic theater will close its doors on March 3. Gorman wasn’t available for comment before press time, but Gorman said last month that he knew something was going to happen but hadn’t yet received confirmation.

The theater is being bought by Eric Hart, who owns the Senator Theatre as well, and will likely be gutted and used as office or retail space.

The El Rey has been owned by Regal Entertainment Group since 2000, the year the company acquired the theater from United Artists Theater Co. Gorman said last month that he thought the sale was inevitable and that Regal had been looking for years to sell its older theaters, including his.

“I’m just a grain of sand on the beach,” Gorman said.

Black Sunday: Chico Police reported a not-so-super rise in crime over Super Bowl weekend as a total of 44 people were arrested for various offenses ranging from the alcohol-related excursions to spousal abuse and drag racing on the Esplanade.

There were more than 500 calls made to the Chico Police Department from the Friday afternoon to Monday morning. Of the thirteen arrests made for public intoxication many were of minors in possession of alcohol or drug paraphernalia.

Officers arrested four individuals for speeding and reckless driving at speeds that reportedly exceeded seventy miles per hour on the relatively quiet Esplanade. The vehicles used in the incidents were towed away and will be impounded for thirty days. Fines for such fancy driving will be added on to the drivers’ already hefty charge ($1,000) it costs to retrieve their vehicle from the impound lot, not to mention a possible jail sentence for some individuals.

The Chico P.D. believes that the abundance of calls can be directly attributed to the warm weather that was experienced over the weekend.