Three NRG Park parking attendants were charged with allegedly embezzling more than $211,000 from consumers who believed they were making legal payments to attend events such as Houston Texans games, according to court records.
The charges come from an undercover investigation by the Houston Police Department’s Major Offenders Division, as well as a confession from one of the arrested employees.
Reginald Smith, 41, was arrested in March and faces three charges. According to records, he informed detectives about others involved in the plan, and two further employees were charged on Friday.
Taelor Miller, 33, and Vincent Ward, 20, are both wanted.
Rather than using business equipment, the trio allegedly utilized personal Square card readers and charged NRG Park guests for parking.
On one occasion, a man was charged $50 for parking at a Texans game. He later informed investigators that cones in the parking lot at Gate 3 led him out of the area he thought he had paid for, and he discovered that the lot was only for prepaid parking.
His credit card reflected a Square purchase for NRG Parking.
According to a magistrate judge at Smith’s probable cause hearing, as NRG Park security became aware of what was going on, they alerted police.
The magistrate court stated that Smith was recorded on a surveillance camera tossing away the Square gadget around the time of his detention.
Investigators subpoenaed Square records and discovered that the suspects used usernames on the devices such as “Nrg2,” “nrgparking,” and “Nrg Parking,” which could have helped camouflage the scheme on event attendees’ credit card accounts.
Square data show that the suspects successfully completed 7,162 credit card transactions totaling $211,007.09.
The plan ran from at least March 5, 2024, to March 12, 2025, according to records, and Square’s credit card transaction history matched the defendants’ work history.
“It can be very difficult for someone who is parking there to know what is real and what is not, unfortunately,” said Leah Napoliello of the Better Business Bureau.
HPD said the investigation continues and anyone with information should contact the Major Offenders Division.
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