Kathryn Johnston
November 21, 2006鈥擥A
Acting on a tip from a confidential informant, police conduct a no-knock raid on the home of 88 year old Kathryn Johnston.
Johnston, described by neighbors as feeble and afraid to open her door at night, opens fire on officers as they burst into her home. Three of the officers are wounded before Johnston is shot and killed.
Relatives say that Johnston lived alone, and legally owned a gun because she was fearful of intruders. She lived in the home for 17 years. Police claim that they find a small amount of marijuana in Johnston's home, but none of the cocaine, computers, money, or equipment described in the affidavit that was used to obtain a warrant.
There are now allegations of a police cover-up.
Developing...
Source
Shaila Dewan and Brenda Goodman, "Atlanta Officers Suspended in Inquiry on Killing in Raid " The New York Times, November 28, 2006.
Michael Meluzzi.
July 8, 2005鈥擣L
In July 2005, a Sarasota, Florida SWAT team conducts a drug raid on a home where several children are playing in the front yard.
The SWAT team descends from a van, deploys flashbang grenades, then swarms the home. 44-year-old Michael Meluzzi, who had a criminal record, begins to flee as he sees the armed agents exit the van. Police chase Meluzzi down and fire a Taser gun at him, partially hitting him.
According to Officer Alan Devaney, Meluzzi then reached into his waistband, leading Devaney to believe he was armed. Devaney opened fire, killing Meluzzi.
Police would find no weapon on or near Meluzzi's body.
Sources:
"Suspect is stunned, then fatally shot, " Associated Press, July 11, 2005.
Latisha R. Gray, "Fatal drug raid raises questions; Residents ask why a SWAT team came in with children present," Sarasota Herald-Tribune, July 31, 2005, p. BS1.
Cheryl Lynn Noel.
January 21, 2005鈥擬D
Baltimore County, Maryland police descend on a home in the Dundalk neighborhood at around 5 a.m. on a narcotics warrant. They deploy a flashbang grenade, then quickly subdue the first-floor occupants -- a man and two young adults.
When officers enter the second-floor bedroom of Cheryl Llynn Noel, they break open the door to find the middle-aged woman in her bed, frightened, and pointing a handgun at them. One officer fires three times. Noel dies at the scene.
Friends and acquaintances described Noel as "a wonderful person," who ran a Bible study group on her lunch breaks. One man collected 200 signatures from friends, neighbors, and coworkers vouching for her character.
Officers conducted the raid after finding marijuana seeds in the Noels' garbage can.
Sources:
Joseph M. Giordano, "Woman is shot, killed by police in drug raid," Dundalk Eagle, January 27, 2005.
Joseph M. Giordano, "Petition reflects anguish," Dundalk Eagle, March 31, 2005.
Alberta Spruill.
May 16, 2003鈥擭Y
On May 16, 2003, a dozen New York City police officers storm an apartment building in Harlem on a no-knock warrant. They're acting on a tip from a confidential informant, who told them a convicted felon was dealing drugs and guns from the sixth floor.
There is no felon. The only resident in the building is Alberta Spruill, described by friends as a "devout churchgoer." Before entering the apartment, police deploy a flashbang grenade. The blinding, deafening explosion stuns the 57 year-old city worker, who then slips into cardiac arrest. She dies two hours later.
A police investigation would later find that the drug dealer the raid team was looking for had been arrested days earlier. He couldn't possibly have been at Spruill's apartment because he was in custody. The officers who conducted the raid did no investigation to corroborate the informant's tip. A police source told the New York Daily News that the informant in the Spruill case had offered police tips on several occasions, none of which had led to an arrest. His record was so poor, in fact, that he was due to be dropped from the city's informant list.
Nevertheless, his tip on the ex-con in Spruill's building was taken to the Manhattan district attorney's office, who approved of the application for a no-knock entry. It was then taken to a judge, who issued the warrant resulting in Spruill's death. From tip to raid, the entire "investigation" and execution were over in a matter of hours.
Spruill's death triggered an outpouring of outrage and emotion in New York and inspired dozens of victims of botched drug raids, previously afraid to tell their stories, to come forward.
Still, the number of real, tangible reforms to result from the raid were few. Though the number of no-knocks in New York has by most indications declined, there's still no real oversight or transparency in how they're granted and carried out. And victims of botched raids still have no real recourse, other than to hope the media gets hold of their story.
Sources:
Austin Fenner, Maki Becker, and Michelle McPhee, "Cops' Tragic Grenade Raid; Storm wrong apt., woman dies," New York Daily News, May 17, 2003, p.3.
William K. Rashbaum, "Report by police outlines mistakes in ill-fated raid," New York Times, May 31, 2003, p. A1.
Fernanda Santos and Patrice O'Shaughnessy, "Snitch had shaky rep," New York Daily News, May 18, 2003.
Leonard Levitt, "Focus on Kelly, Race After Raid," Newsday, May 19, 2003, p. A2.
Jose Colon.
April 19, 2002鈥擭Y
On April 19, 2002, police prepare to conduct a heavily-armed late-night drug raid (it includes a helicopter) on a home in Bellport, New York. As four paramilitary unit officers rush across the front lawn, 19 year-old Jose Colon emerges from the targeted house.
According to the police account of the raid, as officers approach, one of them trips over a tree root, then falls forward, into the lead officer, causing his gun to accidentally discharge three times. One of the three bullets hits Colon in the side of the head, killing him.
Police say they screamed at Colon to "get down" as they approached, though two witnesses told a local newscast that, (a) their screams were inaudible over the sound of the helicopter, and (b) the officers appeared to be frozen before the shooting -- no one tripped. One of the witnesses later recanted his story after speaking with police.
Colon was never suspected of buying or selling drugs. Police proceeded with the raid, and seized eight ounces of marijuana. A subsequent investigation found no criminal wrongdoing on the part of police. The family of Colon -- who had no criminal record and was months away from becoming the first member of his family to earn a bachelor's degree -- is pursuing a lawsuit.
Sources:
Samuel Bruchey, "Victim's girlfriend says shooting wasn't an accident," Newsday, April 26, 2002.
Samuel Bruchey, "Cops' account disputed again," Newsday, April 27, 2002.
Bruce Lambert, "No indictment in shooting of young man in Suffolk raid," New York Times, August 9, 2002.
Tony Martinez.
December 20, 2001鈥擳X
On December 20, 2001, police in Travis County, Texas storm a mobile home on a no-knock drug warrant.
19-year-old Tony Martinez, nephew of the man named in the warrant, is asleep on the couch at the time of the raid. Martinez was never suspected of any crime. When Martinez rises from the couch as police break into the home, deputy Derek Hill shoots Martinez in the chest, killing him. Martinez is unarmed.
A grand jury later declined to indict Hill in the shooting. The shooting occurred less than a mile from the spot of a botched drug raid that cost Deputy Keith Ruiz his life. Hill was also on that raid. The same Travis County paramilitary unit would later erroneously raid a woman's home after mistaking ragweed for marijuana plants.
Sources:
Clair Osborn, "Survivors sue Travis county over fatal raid," Austin American-Statesman, May 10, 2003, p. B1.
Claire Osborn, "Deputy not indicted in drug raid death," Austin American-Statesman, April 4, 2002.
John Adams.
October 4, 2000鈥擳N
On October 4, 2000 at about 10 p.m., police in Lebanon, Tennessee raid the home of 64-year-old John Adams on a drug warrant. In what Lebanon Police Chief Billy Weeks would later say was a "severe, costly mistake," police indentify the wrong house.
According to Adams' wife, police don't identify themselves after knocking on the couple's door. When she refuses to let them in, they break down the door, and handcuff her. Adams meets the police in another room with a sawed-off shotgun. Police open fire, and shoot Adams dead.
One officer would later be fired after the incident, and several others suspended, but no criminal charges would ever come of the raid. Adams' widow eventually won a $400,000 settlement from the city.
Sources:
Warren Duzak, "Innocent man dies in police blunder," Tennessean, October 6, 2000.
Ashley Fantz, "Fatal Mistake," Salon, October 19, 2000
Andy Humbles, "Wilson DA prefers simplicity to theatrics," Tennessean, March 15, 2004, p. B1.
Lynette Gayle Jackson.
September 22, 2000鈥擥A
On September 22, 2000, police in Riverdale, Georgia shoot and kill Lynette Gayle Jackson in an early morning, no-knock drug raid.
Less than a month earlier, Jackson had been at home when burglars broke into the house. She escaped out a window and called the police while the intruders ransacked her home. When police arrived to answer the burglary call, they found a small bag of cocaine in the bedroom that belonged to Jackson's boyfriend. While the quantity of cocaine wasn't sufficient to press charges, police began a subsequent investigation of Jackson's boyfriend leading to the September no-knock raid.
As that raid transpired, Jackson, believing she was being robbed again, was holding a gun in her bedroom as the SWAT team entered. Her maintenance man later told reporters she had been frightened by the previous burglary. Jackson had asked him to install new locks, security bars on her windows, and a motion-detecting security light. The man told the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, "I think she was scared and she probably thought it was another break-in."
Source:
Joshua B. Good, "Fulton woman slain during drug raid; Officers open fire after victim grabbed gun as they burst into bedroom of her Riverdale home," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 23, 2000, p. E3.
Alberto Sepulveda.
September 13, 2000鈥擟A
Early in the morning on September 13, 2000, agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, and the Stanislaus County, California drug enforcement agency conduct raids on 14 homes in and around Modesto, California after a 19-month investigation.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the DEA and FBI asked that local SWAT teams enter each home unannounced to secure the area ahead of federal agents, who would then come to serve the warrants and search for evidence. Federal agents warn the SWAT teams that the targets of the warrants, including Alberto Sepulveda's father Moises, should be considered armed and dangerous.
After police forcibly enter the Sepulveda home, Alberto, his father, his mother, his sister, and his brother are ordered to lie face down on the floor with arms outstretched. Half a minute after the raid begins, the shotgun officer David Hawn has trained on Alberto's head discharges, instantly killing the eleven-year-old boy.
No drugs or weapons are found in the home.
The Los Angeles Times later reports that when Modesto police asked federal investigators if there were any children present in the Sepulveda home, they replied, "not aware of any." There were three.
A subsequent internal investigation by the Modesto Police Department found that federal intelligence evidence against Moises Sepulveda -- who had no previous criminal record -- was "minimal." In 2002 he pled guilty to the last charge remaining against him as a result of the investigation -- using a telephone to distribute marijuana. The city of Modesto and the federal government later settled a lawsuit brought by the Sepulvedas for the death of their son for $3 million.
At first, Modesto Police Chief Roy Wasden seemed to be moved by Sepulveda's death toward genuine reform. "What are we gaining by serving these drug warrants?" Wasden is quoted as asking in the Modesto Bee. "We ought to be saying, 'It's not worth the risk. We're not going to put our officers and community at risk anymore.'"
Unfortunately, as part of the settlement with the Sepulvedas, while Modesto announced several reforms in the way its SWAT team would carry out drug raids, there was no mention of discontinuing the use of paramilitary units to conduct no-knock or knock-and-announce warrants on nonviolent drug offenders.
Sources:
Rebecca Trounson, "Deaths raise questions about SWAT teams; Police: Accidents, deaths and raids at wrong addresses put pressure on departments to disband groups. Officers defend paramilitary units as effective when used properly," Los Angeles Times, November 1, 2000, p. A1.
Ty Phillips and Michael G. Mooney, "How did the gun go off? Police report fails to answer question in SWAT shooting of Alberto Sepulveda," Modesto Bee, January 11, 2001, p. A1.
Michael G. Mooney, "Boy's death costs Modesto $2.55M; Sepulveda family settles lawsuit filed against city after 11-year-old shot during SWAT drug raid," Modesto Bee, June 20, 2002, p. A1.
Rebecca Trounson, "Suit could put limit on use of SWAT teams; Police: Lawyer for family of Modesto boy killed in raid to ask federal court to end role of the paramilitary units in drug cases," Los Angeles Times, January 16, 2001, p. A3.
Ismael Mena.
September 29, 1999鈥擟O
On September 29, 1999, a Denver SWAT team executes a no-knock drug raid on the home of Ismael Mena, a Mexican immigrant and father of seven.
Mena, believing he is being robbed, confronts the SWAT team with a gun. Police say they fired the eight shots that killed Mena only after Mena ignored repeated warnings to drop his weapon. Mena's family says police never announced themselves, and fired at the man shortly after entry.
The police later discover they've raided the wrong home, based on bad information from an informant. They find no drugs in Mena's house, nor are any later found in his system.
In 2000, a special prosecutor's investigation into the Mena shooting would find no wrongdoing on the part of the SWAT team. A separate internal affairs investigation also cleared the SWAT team of wrongdoing, but did find that the officer who prepared the search warrant for Mena's home had falsified information.
As the shooting gained traction in the media, Denver city officials began to portray Mena as a Mexican criminal refugee wanted for murder (Mena had shot a man in Mexico in self-defense, but was cleared of any wrongdoing), in what critics called a "blame the victim" strategy. Members of the police department also later started a "Spy file" on a citizens' organization agitating for a more thorough investigation of Mena's death. The intelligence unit that kept the files on Mena's supporters was the head of the SWAT team that conducted the raid on Mena's home.
Weeks later, new details began to emerge about the Mena case that called the special prosecutor's conclusions into question. Mena's family eventually hired a former FBI agent named James Kearney to conduct a private investigation into the shooting. Kearney became convinced that Denver police shot Mena without provocation, and planted the gun to cover up the botched raid. Kearney found evidence not uncovered by previous investigations, including two slugs in the floor of Mena's apartment that suggest the raid didn't happen as the SWAT team claims it did.
In 2000, Mena's family finally settled with the city of Denver for $400,000.
Since the Mena shooting, the city of Denver has settled a $1.3 million lawsuit after police shot and killed a developmentally disabled teenager, and face another suit in which police raiding a home in search of a domestic violence suspect shot and killed a man (not the suspect) in bed when they mistook the soda can in his hand for a gun.
In one final, bizarre twist to the Mena case, it was revealed months after the raid that Colorado Rockies second baseman Mike Lansing was permitted to ride along with the SWAT team on the raid ending in Mena's death. Media inquiries later discovered that it's fairly common for members of the Denver baseball team to accompany police on SWAT raids, despite the raids' volatile nature.
Sources:
Alan Prendergast, "Unlawful Entry; The high price of Denver's drug war: lies, bad busts, cops in harm's way -- and the death of an innocent man," Denver Post, February 24, 2000.
Howard Pankratz, " Informant: Error led to fatal raid Police tipster says his mistake brought officers to Mena's door," Denver Post, August 12, 2000, p. A1.
Amy Herdy, "Findings complicate Mena case," Denver Post, January 23, 2003, p. 10.
"Rockies outfielder defends 'ride-alongs," Orlando Sentinel, July 18, 2000, p. C5.
Tina Greigo, "Blaming the Victim," Denver Post, February 17, 2001, p. B7.
Kevin Vaughan, "Former FBI agent fights to renew Mena suit," Rocky Mountain News, November 17, 2005, p. A36.
Bruce Finley, "$400,000 settles Mena case Webb steps in to broker deal in fatal no-knock raid," Denver Post, March 24, 2000, p. A1.
Mario Paz.
August 9, 1999鈥擟A
On August 9, 1999, 20 police officers from the El Monte, California SWAT team conduct a late-night raid on the home of 65-year-old Mario Paz. By the end of the raid, Paz is shot in the back by police, and killed.
The police version of events changes several times over the next few weeks. Police first say Paz was armed. They next say he wasn't armed, but was reaching for a gun. Their final account is that Paz was reaching not for a gun, but to open a drawer where a gun was located.
Paz was unarmed when he was shot. Police would later reveal that they had conducted the raid after finding the Paz address on the driver's license, vehicle registration, and an old cell phone bill of suspected drug dealer Marcos Beltran Lizarraga (charges against Lizarraga were subsequently dropped, in part because a videotape of the search of his home turned up blank).
The Paz family explained that Lizarraga had lived next to them in the 1980s, and had convinced Mario Paz to let him receive mail at their residence after he moved. Three weeks after the raid, the El Monte Police Department announced that they had no evidence that anyone in the Paz family was involved in any illicit drug activity, nor did the SWAT team have any reason to think so on the night Paz was shot.
During the raid, police seized more than $10,000 in cash, and announced plans to claim the money for themselves via asset forfeiture laws. Police backed off those plans when the Paz family demonstrated proof that the money was their life savings.
Shortly after the Paz shooting made headlines, El Monte police conducted another raid on the home of an immigrant family. According to a subsequent lawsuit, police confronted Rosa Felix on September 22, 1999. They told her that they knew her family was trafficking drugs, that they had information that she knew Paz, and that unless she gave them incriminating information about Paz, they would handcuff her, arrest her, and take away her children. Felix refused, insisting her only interaction with Paz was from buying used cars from him. No charges were ever filed against Felix.
In October 2001 the officer who shot Paz was exonerated in investigations by both the Department of Justice and the Los Angeles Police Department. A county prosecutor insisted that Officer George Hopkins "acted lawfully in self-defense" during the raid.
In 2002, the city of El Monte settled with the Paz family for $3 million. The city also agreed to 13 conditions put forth by the family, mostly reforms in the way it carries out search warrants and deploys its SWAT team.
Even in agreeing to the settlement, however, many city officials insisted the police did nothing wrong. "We don't view it as whether we were liable for his death," said city attorney Clarke Moseley. "We believe the family was involved [in narcotics trafficking] to some extent."
No member of the Paz family was ever charged with a crime.
Sources:
Anne-Marie O'Connor, "Autopsy report has new version of Paz shooting," Los Angeles Times, October 7, 1999, p. A1.
Ann-Marie O'Connor, "No drug link to family in fatal raid, police say," Los Angeles Times, August 28, 1999, p. A1.
Richard Winton, "El Monte Officer Is Exonerated in Fatal Drug Raid; Probe: Federal, county officials say sergeant was justified in using deadly force because he believed a Compton grandfather was reaching for a gun," Los Angeles Times, October 26, 2001, Metro, p. 3.
Jose Cardenas, "Suit in Slaying Leads to Apology," Los Angeles Times, September 26, 2003, Metro, p. 1.
Stacy Renae Walker
August 5, 1999鈥擳N
Police in Lexington, Tennessee force entry into the home of Stacie Renae Walker on a drug raid in August 1999. The raid is based on a tip from a "concerned citizen," who claims to have seen methamphetamine and marijuana inside.
Once inside, Deputy Tim Crowe, who has been on the police force for only a week, shoots Renae in the back of the head, killing her. Police would later say Crowe's gun fired when he "tripped."
Police found no drugs or weapons in the home, and later conceded that the entire raid was "a terrible mistake."
Walker's family was later awarded a $100,000 settlement.
Sources:
Tonya Smith, "Woman 'accidentally shot,' killed in drug raid," Jackson Sun, August 7, 1999.
Tonya Smith, "Family, friends remember victim as energetic, happy," Jackson Sun, August 7, 1999.
"Sheriff: Deputy who fatally shot woman during search was new to job," Associated Press, August 9, 1999.
Additional research by Radley Balko.
Catherine Capps and James Cates.
May 6, 1999鈥擭C
In May of 1999, police in Durham, North Carolina storm the home of 73-year-old Catherine Capps. Also in the house at the time was Capps' friend, 71-year-old James Cates.
Police say they obtained a warrant for the home after a confidential informant claims to have bought crack cocaine from the residence. According to her family, Capps -- the only resident in the house -- had poor vision, was deaf, and "could not even cook an egg without being extremely out of breath."
When police raid the home, they order Cates to stand. Hobbled by a war wound and frightened, Cates stumbles at the order, and falls into a police officer. Sgt. L.C. Smith apparently mistakes Cates' stumble as a lunge for the officer's pistol. Smith responds by punching the elderly man twice in the face.
Cates isn't permitted to use the bathroom during the search, causing him to urinate on himself. Both Cates and Capps are also strip-searched. No drugs are found in the home or on Capps' or Cates' person.
Capps later died from health maladies her family says she incurred during the raid. Police continued to insist they had the correct residence. The only reason Capps was never charged with selling crack cocaine to the informant was that, according to prosecutors, trying her would have required them to release the informant's name.
Subsequent investigations conducted by the Durham Police Department, the FBI, and the local district attorney found no wrongdoing on the part of police.
About six months prior to the Capps-Cates raid, the city of Durham had set up a citizens' review board, in part due to community complaints about other allegations of excessive force on the part of police. But like similar review boards in other parts of the country, proceedings were often conducted in secret, complainants weren't given access to witnesses or evidence, and laws regarding search warrants kept vital information sealed.
When Capps' family attempted to file a complaint with the review board, the board instituted a new rule denying a hearing to any complainant who had sought financial compensation from the city prior to the complaint, and applied the rule retroactively.
Though neither Capps nor her family had asked for any compensation, Cates had, which the review board said was justification for them to refuse to even listen to a complaint about the raid. After complaints from local activist groups, the board relented.
Sources:
John Sullivan, "Durham man, 71, files lawsuit over drug raid," Raleigh News and Observer, May 9, 2000, p. B4.
Dan Kane, "Council committee hears critics of disputed police raid," Raleigh News and Observer, November 5, 1999, p. B4.
Jen Gomez, "Internal inquiry exonerates officers in drug raid," Raleigh News and Observer, August 14, 1999, p. B7.
John Sullivan, "Durham DA absolves police," Raleigh News and Observer, July 27, 1999, p. B1.
Kimberly Marselas, "Watchdog watchers see problems; Some disturbed by slow pace, record of citizens board that monitors police," Durham Herald-Sun, July 16, 2000, p. B1.
Willie Heard.
February 13, 1999鈥擪S
Police in Osawatomie, Kansas conduct a 1:30 a.m. raid on the home of 46-year-old Willie Heard. Police say they announced themselves, though Heard's daughter, who was home at the time, told the Topeka Capital-Journal, "[A]ll I heard them say was 'Get down! Freeze!'"
Heard awoke, and met officers in his bedroom with a .22-caliber rifle, where one officer opened fire, and shot him dead.
Though the search warrant was for crack cocaine and related paraphernalia, police found only the burnt remnants of an herb that couldn't be tested. If it had been marijuana, it would have barely been enough for two cigarettes.
Prosecutors declined to press charges against the police who conducted the raid. In 2001, Heard's family won a $3.5 million settlement from Miami County and the cities of Osawatomie and Paola. The lawsuit contended that police had targeted the wrong home. At least one member of the SWAT team later apologized to Heard's family for their mistakes.
Source:
"Authorities release account of shooting, say marijuana found in house," Topeka Capital-Journal, February 17, 1999.
Mike Hendricks, "Questions remain after deadly raid," Kansas City Star, April 9, 1999, p. B1.
"Family of man mistakenly killed in police raid gets $3.5 million," Associated Press, June 7, 2001.
Christie Green.
December 15, 1998鈥擵A
In December 1998, police in Richmond, Virginia conduct a paramilitary drug raid on an apartment suspected of drug activity. During the raid, Sgt. George Ingram fires a "breaching round" shotgun shell -- intended to blow the locks off of doors -- into the door leading to the apartment's kitchen. Ingram fires five rounds, one of which goes through the door and strikes 18-year-old Christie Green in the chest. Green later dies from her injuries.
Green didn't live at the apartment, and police concede they had no reason to believe she was involved in any drug activity, nor that she knew any was going on in the apartment. Green's family sued both the city of Richmond and the manufacturer of the round, which is designed to dissolve on impact. In 2002, a circuit court jury found that the manufacturer of the round wasn't liable for Green's death. Then, in 2004, a judge in Richmond found that the officer who fired the round wasn't liable, either. Meaning that an innocent woman was killed in a botched raid, and no one was assigned responsibility.
In March 2005, the Virginia State Supreme Court reinstated the case against the city and the officer, ruling that a jury, not a judge, should make the determination of liability. In January 2006, a jury found Officer Ingram grossly negligent in the raid, and awarded the Green family $1.5 million in damages.
Sources:
Alan Cooper, "Police Officer Cleared of Blame in Woman's Death; After Jury Deadlocks, Judge Rules Plaintiff Did Not Prove Case," Richmond Times Dispatch, January 23, 2004.
Tom Campbell, "Damages awarded in SWAT raid death," Richmond Times Dispatch, January 14, 2006.
Edward C. Reed.
October 22, 1998鈥擵A
The Virginia Beach, Virginia SWAT team shoots Edward C. Reed, a husband, father, and church deacon 12 times, killing him.
Reed was working as a security guard at The Professional Club.
The 3 a.m. raid was carried out under a warrant for the suspicion of gambling. According to police, as they approached the tinted car where Reed was working security and identified themselves, Reed refused to drop his handgun. Reed's family insists that the police version of events is unlikely, given that Reed was a security guard.
More likely, they say, Reed mistakenly believed the raiding officers were attempting to rob the club, particularly given that the club had been robbed months earlier.
Police concede that Reed's last words were, "Why did you shoot me? I was reading a book." An attorney for Reed's family questioned why police would deploy a SWAT team to execute a warrant on a gambling operation. Prosecutors later declined to press felony charges against club owner Darrin Hyman for shooting at the SWAT team, agreeing that Hyman had reason to believe the police were criminal intruders.
Sources:
Tim McGlone, "Beach SWAT team cleared in shooting; Family spokesman cites guard's dying words, says report contradictory," Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, November 13, 1998, p. A1.
John Frank, "Prosecutors drop charge against beach club owner; He thought raid was armed robbery, fired gun at police," Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, December 18, 1998, p. B1.
Steve Stone, "Guard Shot by Police Called 'Gentle Giant,'" Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, October 25, 1998, p. B1.
Charles Irwin Potts.
September 4, 1998鈥擭C
On September 4, 1998, police in Charlotte, North Carolina deploy a flashbang grenade and carry out a no-knock warrant for cocaine distribution on a tip from an informant. By the end of the raid, police have put four bullets in 56-year-old Charles Irwin Potts, killing him.
Potts was not the target of the raid. He had visited the house to play cards. Police say Potts drew his gun (which he carried legally) and pointed it at them as they entered. The three men in the house who saw the raid disagree, and say the gun never left Potts' holster. Police found no cocaine, and made no arrests as a result of the raid.
The men inside the house at the time of the raid thought they were being invaded by criminals. "Only thing I heard was a big boom," said Robert Junior Hardin, the original target of the raid. "The lights went off and then they came back on . . . everybody reacted. We thought the house was being robbed."
Police were cleared of all wrongdoing for Potts' death.
Sources:
Leigh Dyer, "Anatomy of a Deadly SWAT Raid," Charlotte Observer, September 9, 1998, p. C1.
Leigh Dyer, "SWAT Team Serves Risky Warrants, Often Uses Flashbang Devices," Charlotte Observer, September 9, 1998, p. 4C.
Gary L. Wright and Leigh Dyer, "No charges in 2 police killings," Charlotte Observer, November 4, 1998, p. C1.
Pedro Oregon Navarro.
July 12, 1998鈥擳X
Six police from Houston's anti-gang task raid the home of Pedro Oregon Navarro. Officers storm his bedroom, where Navarro awakes, startled and frightened, and reaches for his gun. Police open fire and shoot Navarro twelve times, killing him. His gun was never fired. Police found no drugs or evidence of drug use or sale in Navarro's home.
Police obtained Navarro's address after pulling over a car of three men, one of whom they arrested for public intoxication. Already on probation, the suspect offered a "tip" on a nearby drug dealer in exchange for his release. Police agreed to the bargain, and obtained Navarro's address from the suspect.
The officers who shot Navarro were fired. Only one was charged. A jury took about an hour to acquit him of misdemeanor criminal trespass. In August of 2005, two of them applied for reinstatement, adding that they'd hoped to be 'vindicated' of the Navarro shooting.
Sources:
Tim Lynch, "Another Drug War Casualty," Cato Daily Commentary, Cato Institute, November 30, 1998.
Steve Brewer, "Officer Cleared in Oregon Case," Houston Chronicle, March 26, 1999.
"2 ex-officers hoping to be 'vindicated'; Pair fired after Oregon shooting seek reinstatement," Houston Chronicle, August 25, 2005, p. B4.
Barry Hodge.
August 4, 1997鈥擳N
Police in Selmer, Tennessee break down the door to the home of Barry and Sheila Hodge. They were on a no-knock drug raid looking for marijuana.
According to a $25 million lawsuit filed by Mrs. Hodge in 1998, police never announced themselves before forcing entry and shooting Mr. Hodge in the arm and chest, killing him. Mrs. Hodge claims she was thrown on the floor and handcuffed, and the Hodge's daughter was locked in her bedroom.
Press accounts do not indicate if marijuana was found in the home.
Source:
"Woman files $25 million lawsuit over drug bust that left husband dead," Associated Press, August 12, 1998.
Ramon Gallardo.
July 11, 1997鈥擟A
A SWAT team from Dinuba, California -- a town with just 12 regular police officers and 15,000 people, which hadn't a single reported homicide in its history -- shoots and kills sixty-four-year-old farm worker Ramon Gallardo.
Officers in black masks break down Gallardo's bedroom door while he and his wife are sleeping. Carmen Gallardo tells the Los Angeles Times she thought the police "were robbers" when they entered. Police say Gallardo reached for a folding knife to defend himself, at which point they shot him twelve times. Gallardo's family says he didn't own any such knife.
Police weren't serving a drug warrant, and Gallardo had no criminal history. Instead, they were looking for a stolen gun they say belonged to one of his sons. The gun was never found.
A subsequent investigation by the Tulare County District Attorney found nothing improper on the part of police, from obtaining the search warrant, to using a SWAT team to serve it, to the eventual shooting of Gallardo. A federal jury later ordered the town of Dinuba to pay the Gallardo family $5 million in compensation. Dinuba later dissolved its SWAT team.
Source:
Mark Arax, "Small farm town's SWAT team leaves costly legacy," Los Angeles Times, April 5, 1999, p. A1.
Luis Carrasco-Flores.
April 30, 1997鈥擮R
On April 30, 1997 at 5:30 am, police storm the bedroom of Luis Carrasco-Flores on a no-knock raid, part of a larger raid on three apartments. Flores awakes to the site of armed men in his room. He then pulls a pistol out from his pillow, at which point officers open fire and shoot him dead.
Flores' relatives noted in media reports that the apartment adjacent to Flores' had been robbed the previous month, and a tenant there had been murdered, implying he had every reason to believe the men in his room were criminal intruders. Prosecutors would later concede there was no evidence Flores had commited any crime. Friends say he was trying to save enough money to move out of the crime-ridden complex.
No officers were charged or disciplined for the raid. The raid came just seven months after Salem police shot 63-year-old Salvador Hernandez in a no-knock raid. Hernandez also was not the target of the raid.
Source:
Cheryl Martinis, "Salem police shooting ruled justified," The Oregonian, March 6, 1997.
Ralph Garrison.
December 16, 1996鈥擭M
On December 16, 1996, a SWAT team in black balaclavas raid a rental property owned by 69-year-old Ralph Garrison. Police are acting on a tip that the property contains equipment being used by methamphetamine addicts to print counterfeit checks and currency. They conduct the 6 am raid with the aid of a helicopter from U.S. Customs and with two K-9 units.
As the raid commences, Garrison confronts the police, and asks who they are, and why they're on his property. Raiding officers would later claim they told Garrison they were police, and that they were executing a warrant.
Just how clear they were is in dispute, as evidenced by Garrison's actions. After his initial inquiry, Garrison immediately returns to his home to call 911. He asks the dispatcher to send police, because, he says, vandals with "axes and all kinds of stuff" are breaking into his rental property. After some time passes, Garrison tells the dispatcher, "I've got my gun. I'll shoot the son of a *****."
According to raiding officers, Garrison then emerges from his house with a gun, where three officers open fire on him with AR-15 assault rifles. They handcuff Garrison after shooting him, then search his home. He dies at the scene. Police also shoot and kill Garrison's dog, a 14-year old chow, and apprehendhis wife, 69-year old Molly Garrison. Mrs. Garrison later said police didn't remove their hoods or identify themselves until after the raid. Police make no arrests in connection with the raid.
In 1999, a federal court dismissed the Garrison estate's lawsuit against the police department, holding that the officers had qualified immunity, a law that protects police from civil damages in any lawsuit where it is determined that they don't clearly violate any established constitutional protections.
Sources:
Jessie Milligan, "Judge dismisses most of lawsuit in SWAT death," Albuquerque Tribune, March 18, 1999, p. A3.
Guillermo Contreras, "U.S. Supreme Court Denies APD Shooting Suit Appeal," Albuquerque Journal, May 3, 2001, p. D2.
Joseph Buczek.
December 8, 1996鈥擣L
A Sarasota, Florida SWAT team is called to the home of Joseph Buczek, who police concede had done nothing wrong and was suspected of no crime.
The SWAT team arrived after a cab driver falsely called and reported that Buczek was "bloody and injured." When police arrived, they found Buczek asleep in his favorite easy chair, apparently intoxicated and depressed, with a gun at his side.
Hours later, a SWAT team showed up, and deployed a flashbang grenade in Buczek's direction. Buczek, apparently alarmed, raised his gun in the direction of the noise, at which point Sgt. John LeBlanc shot him to death. Police later said they deployed the flashbang and commenced the raid on Buczek "for his own safety" and that police themselves would have been criticized had Buczek killed himself while police continued to wait him out.
A subsequent investigation found no wrongdoing on the part of police, and concluded that Buczek shouldered most of the blame for his own death.
Sources:
Lou Ferrara, "Tragedy on 12th Street; The Shooting of Joseph Buczek, Jr.; Police Decisions Took a Deadly Turn," Sarasota Heard Tribune, Febraury 2, 1997, p. A1.
Lou Ferrara, "Review: Victim most at fault in shooting," Sarasota Herald-Tribune, June 18, 1997, p. A1.
Ana Roman.
September 12, 1996鈥擭Y
On September 12, 1996, police in New York City conduct a no-knock raid on the home Ana Roman -- then 70 -- shares with her husband and adult son. Police are acting on a faulty tip from a confidential informant that drugs are being dealt from Roman's home.
Roman emerges from her bedroom to find police pointing assault weapons at her, her husband, and her son. Roman has a heart attack at the scene, and spends the next two weeks in a cardiac unit. Her family maintains that Roman never fully recovered, and died of congestive heart failure six years later as a direct result of the attack she suffered during the raid. They filed suit in 2004.
Source:
Melissa Grace, "Raid-Snafu Trial to Open; Suit blames cops for woman's death 6 yrs. later," New York Daily News, June 1, 2004, p. 3.
Salvador Hernandez.
August 2, 1996鈥擮R
On August 2, 1996, police storm the home of 62-year-old Salvator Hernandez on a drug raid. The raid is part of a broader raid that morning involving 47 police officers and federal agents.
Hernandez, who is nearly deaf, is making breakfast for himself and his friend, 54-year old Bortolo Pineda.
According to police, as they entered the home, Hernandez took the knife he was using to make breakfast and "lunged" at them with a "menacing" look on his face. According to Pineda, Hernandez didn't hear the police shouts, and had turned to get some sausage from the refrigerator. Police opened fire, and hit Hernandez in the chest five times, killing him.
Hernandez was a farmworker described by friends and his employer as a "good man," and a "good worker." He had no criminal record, and in fact had been a police officer in Mexico before coming to America. He was a grandfather of 21 and a great-grandfather of one. There were no drugs on his person or in his system.
Just days later, a grand jury would clear the raiding officers of all charges, ruling that they had reason to believe their lives were in danger.
Salem police pointedly refused to apologize for Hernandez's death.
Sources:
Cheryl Martinis, "Two Salem officers kill 63 year-old," The Oregonian, August 3, 1996.
Laura Trujillo, "Jury clears police in fatal shooting," The Oregonian, August 8, 1996.
Laura Trujillo, "Police in Salem decline to apologize," The Oregonian, August 9, 1996.
Laura Trujillo, "The Shooting of Salvador Hernandez," The Oregonian, Septebmer 1, 1996.
Richard Brown.
March 12, 1996鈥擣L
After a tip from an informant stating that he was selling drugs from his home, a Miami SWAT team bursts into the home of 73-year-old retired salesman Richard Brown, and immediately begins firing.
By the end of the raid, they'd pumped 123 rounds into Brown and his apartment, killing him at the scene. Brown's 14-year-old great-granddaughter was also home at the time of the raid, and cowered in the bathroom during the gunfire.
Police found no drugs in Brown's home.
The city of Miami would later pay a $2.5 million settlement to Brown's estate after officers on the raiding SWAT team were indicted for lying about the details of the raid.
Former Miami Internal Affairs supervisor and 25-year police veteran John Dalton, now retired, told the Miami Herald that the Internal Affairs supervisor at the time of the raid, William O'Brien, discouraged a thorough investigation of the Brown case. "They were very defensive about this shooting from the beginning," Dalton said, adding that he'd been "chewed out" by O'Brien for asking difficult questions.
Source:
"Four cops convicted in Miami," St. Petersburg Times, April 10, 2003.
Donald Harrison.
August 19, 1994鈥擟A
On August 19, 1994, sheriff's deputies in Riverside County, California raid the mobile home of 87-year-old Donald Harrison and wife Elsie, 77. The two are in bed as police break in on a drug warrant. They had the wrong home.
Mr. Harrison would die four days later from a heart attack brought on by the experience.
According to the Harrison's relatives, the elderly couple's mobile home lacked the four-foot fence described in the warrant. The home in the warrant was also made of aluminum, while the Harrisons' home was made of fiberboard. The Harrisons' trailer was also a different color than the trailer identified in the warrant.
Source:
Steven Elbow, "Military Muscle Comes to Mayberry," Madison Capital Times, August 19, 2001.
James Bovard, "Flash. Bang. You're Dead: SWAT teams make dramatic TV but horrible justice; the increase in the number of SWAT teams has led to violent, and sometimes misguided, justice," Playboy, March 1, 2000, p. 53.
Shawn Cottrell.
March 31, 1994鈥擶A
On March 31, 1994, a SWAT team in Federal Way, Washington conducts a drug raid on suspect Joel Duncan. Duncan share an apartment with three roommates, including 19-year-old Shawn Cottrell.
As police force entry by breaking down the door at around 10:30 pm, Cottrell emerges, and according to police, he's holding a gun (Cottrell's family would later establish that Cottrell's fingerprints weren't found on the gun). A police officer fires two bursts from his semi-automatic weapon, hitting the Cottrell five times, and killing him. Cottrell was not the subject of the raid, and not suspected of a crime. Duncan was unhurt in the raid, and later charged and convicted of drug crimes.
Though police insisted that they knocked and clearly announced themselves before the raid, occupants of the apartment, neighbors, and at least one police officer outside the building heard no announcement.
Source:
Horvath v. King County Police Dep't, 2001 Wash. App. LEXIS 1603 (Wash. Ct. App. 2001)
Rev. Accelyne Williams.
March 25, 1994鈥擬A
Williams, a 75-year-old retired minister, dies of a heart attack after 13 members of a heavily-armed Boston SWAT team storm his apartment in body armor and black masks.
One police source tells the Boston Herald of the raid, "Everything was done right, except it was the wrong apartment." Police later discover that an informant had given them incorrect information that a "Jamaican drug posse operated out of the building," and failed to specify which apartment to target.
A week after the raid, media investigators discovered that three of the officers involved had been accused in a 1989 civil rights suit of using nonexistent informants to secure drug warrants. The suit resulted in a $50,000 settlement from the city of Boston and one witness testified that an officer apologized after realizing the mistake, telling its occupants, "this happens all the time."
Sources:
Joseph Mallia and Maggie Mulvihill, "Minister dies as cops raid wrong apartment," Boston Herald, March 26, 1994, p. 1.
Maggie Mulvihill, "3 cops at botched raid were sued in prior gaffe," Boston Herald, April 1, 1994, p. 6.
The Branch Davidian Raid.
April 19, 1993鈥擳X
More than 70 federal agents seize a religious compound in Waco, Texas on suspicion of firearms violations.
After a lengthy standoff, agents begin firing "ferret rounds" into the building, then demolish the building with tanks. Gunfire breaks out, and the compound goes up in flames. 76 people, indluding 27 children, die in the flames and gunfire.
Source:
Timothy Lynch, "No Confidence: An Unofficial Account of the Waco Incident," Cato Institute Policy Analysis No. 395, April 9, 2001.
Donald Scott.
October 2, 1992鈥擟A
In an early morning drug raid on October 2, 1992, 31 officers from five police agencies break down the door to the multimillion dollar home of Donald Scott.
Frightened, Scott's wife screams, "Don't shoot me. Don't kill me." Hearing his wife's screams, Scott emerges from his bedroom holding a handgun, still groggy from a recent cataract operation. When Scott raises the gun in the direction of the police intruders, the raiding officers shoot him dead.
Despite assurances from the L.A. Sheriff's Department that Scott was farming more than 4,000 marijuana plants on his property, thorough search of Scott's property fails to yield any contraband. In fact, Scott's friends would later say he was adamantly opposed to illicit drugs.
Though Scott's grand Malibu ranch is in Ventura County, California, no Ventura police agency was represented among the five police agencies (the L.A. Sheriff's office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Border Patrol, the National Guard and the National Park Service) that conducted the raid. A blistering subsequent investigation by Ventura County district attorney Michael Bradbury suggests why.
Bradbury found gross misstatements of fact, omissions, and outright falsehoods in the application for a search warrant issued by the L.A. sheriff's department. He found that the department had conducted numerous investigations of the ranch, including flyovers and firsthand visits, which found no evidence of marijuana cultivation. Finally, during a low-level flyover one DEA agent suggested to the sheriff's department that he had spotted some plants beneath tree cover that might be marijuana -- but stipulated that his observation ought not be the basis of a search warrant. On that evidence, the L.A. sheriff's department obtained its warrant.
Bradbury concluded that, confirming Donald Scott's fears, the L.A. sheriff's department conducted its raid for the purpose of seizing Donald Scott's property through drug asset forfeiture laws. Under federal law, the department would have been able divvy up proceeds from the $2.5 million ranch with the four other agencies joining in the investigation. Bradbury found documents in which the investigating agencies had expressed desire for Scott's land on various "wish lists," and one notation in which sheriff's department officials had taken note of the recent sale value of one parcel of Scott's land.
According to an L.A. deputy district attorney at the time, two of the agents conducting the raid posed for a triumphant photograph after Scott was shot and killed.
In January 2000, the L.A. Sheriff's Department settled with Scott's family for $5 million, though the terms of the settlement admitted no wrongdoing. In fact, officers from the department who conducted the raid have insisted from the beginning that both the raid and the shooting of Scott were justified, despite the absence of any illegal substances. L.A. Sheriff's Department Captain Larry Waldie told the Los Angeles Times, "I do not believe it was an illegal raid in any way, shape or form." Five years after the raid, Garry Spencer, the officer who both led the raid and who killed Scott told the same paper, "I don't consider it botched. I wouldn't call it botched because that would say that it was a mistake to have gone there in the first place, and I don't believe that."
Sources:
Michael Fessier, Jr., "Trail's End; Deep in a Wild Canyon West of Malibu, a Controversial Law Brought Together a Zealous Sheriff's Deputy and an Eccentric Recluse. A Few Seconds Later, Donald Scott Was Dead," Los Angeles Times Magazine, August 1, 1993, p. 26.
Michael D. Bradbury, Report on the Death of Donald Scott, Office of the District Attorney, County of Ventura, State of California, March 30, 1993.
"Fair End in Police Abuse Case," Los Angeles Times, editorial, January 13, 2000, p. B9.
Daryl Kelley, "Ventura D.A. Says Fatal Raid Was Unjustified," Los Angeles Times, March 30, 1993, p. A1.
Scott Hadly, "Officer criticized over 1992 raid still wants vindication," Los Angeles Times, December 3, 1997, p. B3.
Robin Pratt.
March 24, 1992鈥擶A
In March 1992, police in Everett, Washington storm the home of Robin Pratt on a no-knock warrant. They are looking for her husband, who would later be released when the allegations in the warrant turned out to be false.
Though police had a key to the apartment, they instead choose to throw a 50-pound battering ram through the apartment's sliding-glass door. Glass shards land inches away from the couple's six-year-old daughter and five-year-old niece. One officer encounters Robin Pratt on the way to her bedroom. Hearing other SWAT team members yell "Get down!" Pratt falls to her knees. She then raises her head briefly to say, "Please don't hurt my children." At that point, Deputy Anthony Aston fires his weapon, putting a bullet in her neck, killing her.
Officers next entered the bedroom, where Dep. Aston then put the tip of his MP-5 assault submachine gun against Larry Pratt's head. When Pratt asked if he could move, another officer said that if he did, he'd have his head blown off.
Though a subsequent investigation by a civilian inquest jury found the shooting "unjustified," the officer who shot and killed Pratt was never charged.
Sources:
Jolayne Houtz, "Suit filed against city, county in SWAT death -- Officers also named in Everett shooting," Seattle Times, October 16, 1992.
Rick Anderson, "License to Kill," Seattle Weekly, November 3, 1999.
Annie Rae Dixon.
January 29, 1992鈥擳X
84-year-old Annie Rae Dixon, a bedridden paraplegic, is shot and killed after police officers from the nearby town of Kilgore break into her Tyler, Texas home.
They have the wrong address.
Police later say one raiding officer's weapon "accidentally" discharged, firing the bullet that struck and killed Dixon. A jury would later acquit the raiding officers of any wrongdoing.
Sources:
Carol J. Castaneda, "Texas community again divided; Shooting ignites new racial tension," USA Today, August 21, 1992, p. A10.
Robert Suro, "Police Shooting Focuses Black Anger in Texas City," New York Times, August 10, 1992, p. 10.
"Jury refuses to indict officer in black woman's death," United Press International, July 11, 1992.
Xavier Bennett.
November 13, 1991鈥擥A
On November 13, 1991, police in Dekalb County, Georgia conduct a 2:30 am drug raid on the home of Kathy and Bobby Bowman by knocking down the Bowman's door with a battering ram.
Police say they announced themselves, though the Bowman's say they never heard it. Bobby Bowman, who says he thought he was being robbed, heard the commotion and came out of his bedroom with a gun. As police and Bowman exchanged fire, one bullet struck and killed Bowman's eight-year-old stepson, Xavier Bennett. Police found cocaine in Bowman's possession.
Bowman's lawyer would later tell the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that "the [police] plan of action contributed to the results and outcome of this situation." The prosecutor called Bennett's death "the tragic culmination of drugs and guns."
Source:
Beverly Shepard, "Bowman is sentenced to 45 years in prison," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 23, 1992, p. D5.
Kenneth Baulch.
February 14, 1991鈥擳X
On February 14, 1991, police storm the mobile home of 26-year-old Kenneth Baulch. Baulch is asleep with his 17-month-old son when police wearing all black clothes and ski masks break into the trailer.
Police first confront Baulch's brother, Michael Baulch, Jr. They were acting on an informant's tip that there were drugs in the apartment. According to a lawsuit later filed by the family, Michael Baulch tried to warn police that his brother and nephew were asleep, but was told, "Shut your ******* mouth, or I'll blow your ******* brains out."
The same officer then kicked down the bedroom door and immediately fired three shots, hitting Kenneth Baulch in the back, killing him. Baulch was holding an ashtray in his left hand. Police say he used it to attack the officer, though Baulch's family says he's right-handed, a smoker, and that subsequent investigations show Baulch was walking away from the door when he was shot.
Michael Baulch was charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession, the only charge to result from the raid. A subsequent internal affairs and grand jury investigation found no wrongdoing on the part of the officer who shot Kenneth Baulch.
Sources:
Tracy Everbach, "Family sues Garland officer over '91 fatal shooting; Internal investigation, grand jury cleared policeman," Dallas Morning News, January 28, 1993, p. A23.
Richard Elsass and Sgt. Dighton Little.
October 20, 1989鈥擟A
On October 20, 1989, officials from the San Joaquin and Stanislaus sheriff's departments conduct a pre-dawn drug raid on a trailer next to a truck stop in Ripon, California. Richard Elsass, 43, is the manager of the truck stop's restaurant, and is in the trailer at the time of the raid.
Elsass's family says he was hard of hearing, which might explain why he didn't respond when police announced themselves before forcibly entering his trailer. According to police, Elsass met them in his trailer with a shotgun, and fired one round at Sgt. Dighton Little, killing him. Other raiding officers then opened fire, killing Elsass.
Police found no drugs in the trailer. Subsequent investigations found no wrongdoing on the part of the raiding police officers, and a local district attorney ruled the death of Sgt. Little to be an "unlawful homicide."
Elsass's family won $175,000 in a civil suit in 1994.
Source:
Francis P. Garland, "2 counties sued over Ripon truck stop slaying," Modesto Bee, July 3, 1990, p. B2.
Stuart Gordon, "Shooting victim's kin sues; Damages sought from owners of truck stop," Modesto Bee, October 20, 1990, p. B1.
Michael Winters, "Raid's Shock Still Felt," Modesto Bee, February 15, 1994, p. A1.
Dexter Herbert.
March 15, 1989鈥擟A
In March 1989, police in Gardena, California conduct a no-knock raid on the home of Lorine Harris. Police officer Davie Mathieson, apparently startled by the flashbang grenade deployed by his fellow officers, accidentally fires his gun, striking and killing Harris's 20-year old son, Dexter Herbert. Herbert is unarmed.
Sources:
Lorine Harris v. Milton Grimes, 104 Cal. App. 4th 180 (2002).
"News from Southern California," Associated Press, June 1, 2004.
Lloyd Smalley and Lillian Weiss.
January 25, 1989鈥擬N
In 1989, police in Minneapolis, Minnesota conduct a drug raid at the home of elderly African-American couple Lloyd Smalley and Lillian Weiss after a bad tip from an informant.
The flashbang grenades police use in the raid set the home on fire. Police are certain no one is inside, and so at first make no attempt at rescue. Smalley and Weiss die of smoke inhalation. Police had raided the wrong house.
Ten years later, the same police department would make a similar mistake. The deployment of a flashbang during a drug raid on a triplex would cause the entire building to catch fire, ruining the two homes surrounding the target of the raid.
Sources:
Karren Mills, "City Image Tarnished By Allegations of Police Racism," Associated Press, March 21, 1989.
David Chanen, "Police device used in search is considered safe, official says," Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 17, 2000, p. 7B.
Tommie C. Dubose.
March 12, 1988鈥擟A
On March 12, 1988, undercover narcotics police storm the San Diego home of Tommie C. Dubose, a 56-year-old civilian instructor at a Naval station. Dubose, who friends say was staunchly opposed to drug use, charges the invading officer, tosses a glass of wine in his face and goes for the officer's gun. Another officer shoots Dubose once in the face and four times in the back, killing him.
Police find no drugs in the home. They had raided after suspecting Dubose's son of drug trafficking.
The San Diego County district attorney would later find the police shooting justifiable, but would criticize the way the undercover police served the search warrant, including the number of times they knocked on the door, how they announced themselves, and how quickly they burst inside.
Source:
Alan Abrahamson, "City, widow reach tentative pact in Dubose killing," Los Angeles Times, July 27, 1989.
Erdman Bascomb.
February 17, 1988鈥擶A
In February 1988, police in Seattle, Washington conduct a late-night drug raid on the home of 41-year old Erdman Bascomb after an informant tells them there's cocaine inside.
Police knock on Bascomb's door, wait just a few seconds, then force the door open with a battering ram. Officer Bob Lisoski confronts Bascomb in the darkened apartment, mistakenly believes Bascomb to be holding a gun, and shoots him dead. Bascomb was holding only the remote control for his television.
Police found no drugs or weapons in Bascomb's home. In 1995, a federal jury found no wrongdoing on the part of Seattle police, and awarded Bascomb's family no damages.
Police Chief Patrick Fitzsimons, who had retired by the time the case made it to trial, told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that "Police work requires a lot of high-risk situations and split-second decisions. Our officers are well-trained and exercise their best judgment. On a rare occasion, something tragic happens. But there is an awful lot of tragedy in the crack cocaine world."
Sources:
Paul Shukovsky, "Jury Rules in Favor of Police; Man's Shooting Called a 'Tragedy,'" Seattle Post-Intelligencer, November 16, 1995, p. B3.
Peter Lewis, "Police officer and city sued in fatal shooting," Seattle Times, January 11, 1991, p. C5.
Jeffrey Miles.
March 26, 1987鈥擪Y
On March 26, 1987, police in Jeffersontown, Kentucky raid the home of Jeffrey Miles, 24 on an informant's tip. During the raid, Officer John Rucker shoots Miles, and kills him. Police would later discover that Miles wasn't a suspect. The raid had been targeted at the wrong home.
Source:
John Dentinger, "Narc, narc; diary of police raids on the wrong house I hope everyone realizes that this is only a small sample of what was reported and then actually made the papers. Most police crimes never get reported and of those only a few get the media attention they deserve. For every one you see there are hundreds more that were kept quiet to protect the crooked/stupid cops involved Cops are scary. Report It
Smart cop = oxymoron Report It
The danger is that the individuals are part of a growing fascist movement to eliminate privacy and the bill of rights claiming its for our own good. Report It
I appreciate the effort put into the Q by the Q-asker.I wish the nit-pickers who can't focus or concentrate for more than a few seconds would try asking more Q's & learn not to attack the askers for things that the A's are unwilling or incapable of doing. This is not "trivial pursuits." Report It
To say cops are morons is just cowardly. I want to know who you are going to call when you get mugged, car gets stolen, or brother gets killed. YES THAT IS CORRECT THE POLICE!! Report It
People have to understand that when they search a house there is always evidence behind it. When someone is pointing a gun at you what do you expect the police to do? Tap dance?!?! Also when police raid a house they do announce their presence. Report It
And for the people that think that police raids are wrong, next time you have a drug dealer selling to your children don鈥檛 call the police on them. According to you the police should not be able to enter their homes, right? Report It
I find it pathetic that people can judge something based on the media. That is just ignorant and absurd. These kinds of people must also go in to the grocery store and believe the magazines when they state that Brad Pitt has four wives. Report It
The media only shows the stories that make money. They don鈥檛 show the good things in the community. Turn on the news and I bet 90 percent of the media is BAD. Does this mean nothing good has happened that day? Report It
Learn how to appreciate the people who give their lives for you. The world isn鈥檛 perfect and the only thing left to keep any sort of peace are the police officers who risk their lives everyday. Report It
If apples are meant to be eaten, then why are there worms in some of them? Because not every apple is good. Report It
You should see the cops in Chesterfield Township Michigan. Terrible cops. Very mean. They hate everyone. Report It
try writing it shorter we do not have this long of an attention span....
and it is because cops love power.... over people... they love forced respect..... it becomes an addiction..... Lets see.............. there are over what, well over 200,000 cops in this country? More that that? Ya, some are bad apples......... just like all of the rest of society.
Shall I post links to every child rapist and killer here and then say a blanket statement like all of YOU, you citizens, are bad?
How about I post some link to prostitutes and say all women are whores?
Your out of your mind... And you can quote me on that. like what dog lover said, there are bad cops, sadly, but there are good cops, and maybe you should post a short question, that'll help, a lot. Police are here to serve and protect-
their fellow officers and their other buddies.
You should expect lots of answers from cops that are in denial. pretty good evidence as to just how corrupt our Judges are. they will sign a warrant with no evidence. appointments MUST end, lackeys should be shining shoes NOT sitting on benches. What were you thinking when you posted this book in here. One story would have been fine. I had to TiVO it so I can read it later. The police can do what ever they want and usually do. The cops are out of control. What Nazi skin head camp do they get the cops from? Sadly there are good police officers and bad ones. All criminals are bad. Being a police officer is a very dangerous and thankless job.
Would it do any good to tell you that my husband who is a retired officer, saved the life of a baby, a teenager who was going to jump off of an overpass and gave money many times to help people with small children whom he met and were having money problems, while he was working? Well, you have to be a moron to be a cop in the first place. In the second place, you still have to be a moron to be a cop. And thirdly, all cops are morons.......moronically speaking of course. woah dude you have WAY to much time on your hands. I read the first one and gave up...tone it down and people might see your point Seems like while some of the endings were unfortunate, the articles you presented showed the outcomes were within the laws of the USA. Honestly, I didn't read ALL of the articles, but the twenty or so I did (looking to find one where the officers did something malicious and egregious) just tend to prove the fact that desperate times require legal, desperate measures on the parts of police. Don't blame the police for seeking search warrants and serving them, blame the citizen's that commit the crimes that require us to have police that seek search warrants to serve. I'm amazed at some of the people in here who think it's okay for cops to break into homes and kill citizens (some of whom were children). Especially when most of the break ins were at the wrong house! How can anyone excuse cops for making those kinds of "mistakes"?
People do have a right to protect themselves and if someone breaks into your home late at night, your first thought is to protect yourself. Most people don't think cops are breaking into their homes, that's why they grab a gun or a knife.
When the cops realize they've made a mistake or murdered someone who was innocent, then they start to lie and cover up and then in my opinion they become criminals and should be charged with crimes.
Cops get defensive when anyone criticizes another cop. Don't they realize that when they protect bad cops they make themselves look bad? some other sources can be found at the links below
Cheers Well lets see...hmmm I bet if I researched it I could find pages and pages of mistakes people made in your job as well. GIVE ME A MAJOR BREAK. I love liberal opinion pieces.. all emotion with little or no facts. |
