Posted on 06/22/2012 10:05:51 PM PDT by Altariel
ochester police and federal agents made a mistake in Charlotte this week that has one woman baffled and frightened. She wants to know how they could mistake her house for one they were supposed to raid in a drug bust.
I was sitting in my living room texting on my phone and I heard somebody come in my back door. I didn't realize at the time what they were saying, but ultimately they were yelling out A-T-F, A-T-F.
Nancy Dominicos says what happened next at her home on Tiernan Street Wednesday night is almost unbelievable.
I thought it was a family member pulling a joke on me. And all of the sudden I looked up and they were in my dinning room pointing a loaded gun at me telling me they had a federal warrant to search my premises.
Dominicos says she kept telling the three ATF agents this wasn't right. They told her they were searching for narcotics and asked if anyone else was home. She said her adult son was upstairs and that's when this story almost turned tragic.
My son had heard me arguing with this man and it was not a voice he'd recognize. My son is a hunter, he put a bullet in the chamber of his gun. They heard that, they yelled down long gun, at that point there he told another ATF agent that was with me, handcuff her and take her out, Dominicos said.
Thankfully Dominicos' son recognized it was law enforcement and put the gun down right away. Dominicos says the handcuffs caused bruises and as she was going outside with an ATF agent she heard him say they had the wrong house. The ATF and Rochester police executed a number of search warrants Wednesday night. Police sent us a statement, saying they entered the home through an unlocked side door and quote:
"Upon encountering an elderly resident, the team realized that they were at the wrong location at that time and left the premises."
Officers then searched the correct house down the street.
Dominicos says the whole event plays over and over in her mind,
I'm still terrified. It's almost like a P.T.S.D. experience, you keep hearing things. You think oh my God I hear a door slam, I hear someone pulling into my driveway. I see a light it's like oh my God are they back?
"How could they make that mistake, how could they make that mistake?
If it was this one mistake I might agree with you, but it isn’t.
This is happening more and more. People are dying and a lot of pets are getting killed too.
It isn’t the war on drugs that is causing this, it is stupidity. It is the idea that they can raid a home any time they like,in violation of Constitutional rights.
If they have a warrant they need to serve it at the front door in daylight.Slinking around in the middle of the night wearing military uniforms and masks, and carrying machine guns is not the American way. Or it shouldn’t be.
Dollars to doughnuts they were all hyped up in their little black ninja outfits, spoiling for battle, and all they got was this little old lady. No wonder they were p.o.ed. I’m surprised someone didn’t get killed.
Bank Robbers:
Anarchists:
Islamic Jihadist Terrorist:
Oh yeah, and COWARDLY SWAT Team members who are afraid to have their identity known....for what reason, one might ask???
Most sensible idea posted here.
thankfully, she had no dogs for them to shoot
If you say, I will get my gun and shoot the intruder, remember; in most states gun ownership is restricted.
Two things: 1) that's not true, in every state (even Illinois), people can own and have guns in their homes, and 2) referring to your first point, I wouldn't call the police, I would take care of the intruder myself--not enough time to wait for the police who may or may not show up.
I've even seen complaints sent into the Postal Consumer Advocate complaining about letter carriers delivering the wrong mail to their home, and then you find out the recipient doesn't even know his own correct address.
Cops need to check more than once ~ that should eliminate all the errors.
Have to laugh about that one. None of those guys have overcome the “road closed/work zone’ problem. Odds are good a cross country trip might not work out as well as you’ve been told.
Well see, she MUST be lying. Our bootlicker friends told us over and over and over again after the Jose Guerena MURDER that it would be absolutely impossible for a citizen in the privacy and comfort of their own home to be confused about the identity of armed men forcing their way into the home.
This lady's son is very lucky that he didn't get shot 71 times, and left to bleed out in front of her for several hours.
This is happening all the time now.
Definite lack of professionalism.
I hope this woman gets a good attack lawyer, sues, and wins a bundle.
I hope this woman gets a good attack lawyer, sues, and wins a bundle.So the taxpayers get punished. Not fair.
Heads need to roll. Jobs need to be lost. Pensions need to be rescinded. That's fair.
As someone with an inside perspective, do you think these sorts of events are becoming more common?
I think the general public is happy that my profession is not as mistake ridden as your.
Since you have walked the walk...I have a question...
At one point not that long ago...when a warrant was issued by the courts...the LEO walked up to your door and knocked telling you they have a warrant...
If a mistake was made... Sorry Sir..we have a wrong address...have a nice day...
Instead today in far too many cases they break down your door with a battering ram, do an dynamic entry with guns, flash bangs and a half dozen "cops" point their red dots on you, your children, in many cases kill your dog...
My question is why....???
At one time, I defended the police when I thought they were getting a bum rap.At one time, I told my children and grandchildren that the police were their friends. I no longer do either. I now tell them to avoid all and any contact with the police.
Why? Because over the years,the police have gone from treating the public as equals to considering them criminals they haven't caught yet... But will soon enough.
Found this interesting: Indiana passed a new law and is the first state to allow citizens to shoot law enforcement officers. It allows residents to use deadly force against public servants, including law enforcement officers, who unlawfully enter their homes. It was signed by Republican Governor Mitch Daniels in March.
Can she at least file a lawsuit? If Rodney King did she should be able to.
Concur. Their are two cops that live on my street. Couldn’t ask for nicer guys. Even they don’t have an answer on why SWAT get used so often for what should be simple warrant searches.
The problem is that these exact kind of mistakes happen far too often. Often times with deadly consequences.
When you have people's lives in your hands, you better be 100% sure. This was not a split-second decision in the streets. This was a planned raid and the police had all the time in the world to be 100% sure. Absolutely NO excuses. Everyone that has their name on this should be charged with the same crimes as an armed burglar breaking and entering a home.
I used to work in nuke plants and also designing building structures. If I made a “mistake”, I knew it could result in a building collapse or nuclear incident. If I was ever found negligent I would be crucified by the media, never work as engineer again and probably do jail time. Everything has to be checked to death before a single bolt is touched. We've only had one nuclear accident in this country and the last US building collapse due to a design mistake was decades ago.
The job of the police is arguably even more important. Not only to protect and serve, but also to encourage a good society. When people constantly see these “mistakes” and dirty cops getting away with everything, it encourages crime and rot of civilization. These botched “raids” and dirty cop stories are reported every single week. How many do we never hear about?
We hear about outrages like this all the time. This cop below got a slap on the wrist. Most likely a deal to not expose the vast corruption in the NYPD. IMO, dirty cops should receive the death penalty. Especially if they endanger people's lives and liberty like in this case:
Also to protect the tax revenues from alcohol/tobacco. Pot can be grown by any moron with a few sq ft of soil and sun anywhere in the USA including Alaska (where personal possession and growing up to 9 plants is legal). It is much harder to avoid tax on alcohol and tobacco.
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