Tarrant County church hall manager accused of altering fire inspection to cancel events
A Tarrant County banquet hall operator faces charges of tampering with fire inspection documents to cancel events, and sometimes keeping the money, a county fire official said Tuesday.
A Fort Worth attorney who is representing seven families whose events were canceled at the last minute at St. Joseph Hall told KXAS-TV that his clients had lost more than $100,000, and they are seeking $1 million in damages.
Jose Rios, 52, of Forest Hill, was booked into the Tarrant County Jail on Nov. 4, and faces three charges of tampering with a government document.
Rios is out on bail and could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
“We are still looking for anyone who had dealings with him in the last couple of years,” Tarrant County Deputy Fire Marshal Keith Ebel, who is an investigator in the case, told the Star-Telegram. “We are searching for those people who were shown documents as to why an event was canceled.”
Ebel said Rios, described as an event coordinator, targeted Hispanic families who were holding weddings, quinceañeras and other events in the hall in the 4000 block of Rendon Road. The building is owned by a church.
Rios is accused of double booking or sometimes triple booking the hall, and then canceling events.
As of Tuesday, St. Joseph Hall was closed, according to the banquet hall’s website.
Officials at the Tarrant County Fire Marshal’s Office were alerted in December 2019, and began an investigation in January 2020.
“One of the victims talked to us and asked if the hall had failed a fire inspection,” Ebel said. “We checked our records, and said no. But the victim had seen a document showing that the hall had failed an inspection..”
Lisa Flores told KXAS-TV that one day before her wedding, Rios canceled, saying he had failed a fire inspection.
An arrest warrant written by Ebel gave these details of how Rios is accused of altering the report:
The date of inspection was changed from Sept. 19, 2018 to Nov. 26, 2019.
The original form has a time of 1100, but the altered time has “AM.”
Under hazardous materials located, the blanks were not filled in on the original report. On the altered one, it’s been changed to say “No fire system,” “No smoke detectors,” “No sprinkler system,” and “No more than 200 people.”
The original form says, “OK. No Recommendations.” The form was altered after “recommendations” to add the phrase “to continue to make any party until problem is resolved.”
Flores said that Rios pointed her to another venue on Lancaster Avenue in Fort Worth, and kept her $14,000, according to the warrant. As she was checking out the Fort Worth venue, Flores asked Rios for a copy of the fire inspection form, but he refused to give her a copy.
But Flores took photos of the altered inspection form.
Her wedding was scheduled for Nov. 30, 2019, and she had it in Fort Worth, according to the warrant.
Flores later found out that Rios held an event at St. Joseph Hall on the same night of her wedding. A Tarrant County deputy constable working off-duty at her wedding was called to St. Joseph Hall in response to a fight.
But COVID-19 halted the investigation for most of 2020 and into 2021.
The investigation picked up again in September, ending in Rios’ arrest earlier this month.
Officials with the Vietnamese Catholic church that owns the hall severed their ties with Rios after his arrest, according to KXAS-TV. He was not a church employee, but he had leased the facility and rented it out to others.
Anyone with information on the case should call the fire marshal’s office at 817-884-1305 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Ebel said many victims could be undocumented immigrants, but he said investigators are not checking on their immigration status.
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 2:45 PM.
