Posted on 07/28/2005 8:42:34 AM PDT by skyman
A family says on a quiet May evening members of the Utah County SWAT team erroneously invaded their Springville home and roughed them up without cause.
The next day, the Chidester family, including Lawrence, his wife Emily and their adult son Larry, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Utah County and six SWAT team members.
According to court documents, the Chidesters say the SWAT team arrived on the street outside their home May 25 at approximately 10:30 p.m. They say the officers then proceeded to man-handle them in the execution of a search warrant -- albeit for the wrong address. The police unit's intended target, the suit claims, was the residence next door.
"Larry Chidester was asleep in his residence when he heard a loud bang or crash outside and exited to investigate the source of the noise," court documents say.
He observed Utah County SWAT team members departing their police vehicle and heading toward their neighbor's home. The sound he had heard was flash-bang devices detonated by the officers. However when SWAT team members saw Larry, they went after him, the suit claims.
"The officer pointed his firearm at Larry and started running towards him, yelling, 'There's one!,' " the document states.
Despite the fact that Larry had his hands in the air and told the officer repeatedly "I'm not resisting," the suit states the SWAT member continued to run over or tackle him, "and shoved his face into the ground and rocks."
The suit claims Larry Chidester was later transported to the emergency room at Mountain View Hospital in Payson to be treated for injuries.
Two officers then kicked open a side door of the home and entered Lawrence Chidester's bedroom as he was dressing, according to the suit.
"A law enforcement officer grabbed Lawrence and threw him to the floor ... the officer held a firearm to the back of Lawrence's head in the presence of his wife, Emily Chidester," the documents say.
Afterward, when the family was questioned about their names and address, the suit claims SWAT team members "admitted ... they were in the wrong house and they had made a mistake."
The Chidesters said the addresses of both homes were clearly marked by curbside mail boxes.
In the federal suit, the Chidesters claim that the members of the Utah County Sheriff's Office were "grossly negligent ... and acted with deliberate indifference" of their rights. They say the SWAT team members had no probable cause for their arrest or detention.
The family is seeking an undisclosed amount in damages to be determined at trial.
Though Utah County Sheriff Jim Tracy said the Chidester home was not the SWAT team's original objective, he said the Chidesters became involved in the raid "as an ancillary issue."
"The warrant was for the house nextdoor but in the service of that warrant they became involved ... they had contact with us," Tracy said.
He said he could not comment on the specifics of the lawsuit since he had not yet reviewed it.
"We dispute the accuracy of their version of the events," Tracy said, regarding what's been reported to date about the nature of the incident.
If it were a South Park or Simpsons episode, it would be funny.
I agree. And I don't have a problem with swat team tactics. But I think the team that can't read the address right on the mail box doesn't need to be a swat team anymore. It's just that simple. This type of accident is not acceptable. It should be immediate dismissal of all involved.
Good reply. Too bad more people don't have your line of thinking.
"even I got confused.
But I don't think it was the "wrong house". It appears that they were going into the right house when "Mr. Helper" Larry decided to become involved.."
Your're confused alright, but it goes well beyond the construction of the article.
Obviously we won't all crawl under our beds hiding in fear when we hear strange noises outside our homes...and Larry was one of us.
hope that you never need a cop or a SWAT team to come to your assistance.
just for fun ... could you please give me an example of when I would want a swat team to come to my assistance ... or even a cop ...
Yes, they need to be held accountable.
Both sides of the issue will come out in court, and a jury will get to decide how badly they screwed up.
Note to self: repaint curb numbers ASAP, keep plenty of porch lights in stock.
Great idea. Surely these guys had time to conduct a recon mission, DURING THE DAY, so they'll know exactly where they're going.
Even the newest butterbar in the Army (2nd LT) knows the value of prior planning.
If this happened to me, I'd be on the phone that night to the "Texas Hammer", Jim Adler.
PRECISELY RIGHT.
I dunno... Maybe the neighbors are drunk again, yelling and fighting, and she runs into the street with him chasing and wailing on her.
You could go outside and wack him with a 2x4 a couple of times while she tries to scrach your eyeballs out... Or you could call 911 and go back to sleep!
Or probable cause, which does not seem to be the case here.
I hope they win. No-knock warrants are a travesty.
From your attitude, I do hope you get to experience what a wrong address invasion is actually like. Or would you prefer that your parents experience it?
Larry Chidester was asleep in his residence when he heard a loud bang or crash outside and exited to investigate the source of the noise...He observed Utah County SWAT team members departing their police vehicle and heading toward their neighbor's home. The sound he had heard was flash-bang devices detonated by the officers.
OK, the flash bank detonated at the right address. Now things start to go wrong.
However when SWAT team members saw Larry, they went after him, the suit claims. "The officer pointed his firearm at Larry and started running towards him, yelling, 'There's one!,...
The SWAT guy assumes the bystander is part of the next door crowd because he is outside. Now things go even wronger ..
Two officers then kicked open a side door of the home and entered Lawrence Chidester's bedroom as he was dressing, according to the suit.
Because the bystander, assumed to be a bad guy, is standing on that property, SWAT assumes that the house itself is bad, so they invade it too. Very Bad assumption. They are invading a house not on the warrant, without any special circumstances. Understandable, because they are all hyped up on adrenaline, but very bad. There is a technical term that describes this ... "carried away".
It could have been a lot worse -- the guy could have grabbed a handgun, and when the cops busted in, he would have been shot. Or, he could have had a shotgun loaded with slugs or an AK47S that would have blasted through the SWAT armor and dropped a couple of SWAT guys, and then things would have been REALLY BAD. I am surprised that the SWAT guys didn't throw in a flash-bang first.
"It's crap like this that gives decent, hard-working, honest cops a bad name.""
Ain't that the truth!
I would imagine that a person being awakened from a sound sleep by a flash-bang grenade would run outside to see if his house had just been hit or if he was under some threat; upon seeing figures in dark clothing milling about, it isn't unreasonable for him to challenge them.
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