Posted on 08/25/2005 10:49:41 AM PDT by Cagey
NEWARK, N.J. -- Federal and state authorities are trying to determine how armed officers raided the wrong house, smashing doors and frightening residents earlier this week, a state police spokesman said Thursday.
We are investigating what went wrong," said Sgt. Gerald Lewis Jr. "For some reason, whether it was erroneous information or supervision, we actually hit the wrong house."
He said the address on the state search warrant was correct, but that the team of state police SWAT officers and Drug Enforcement Administration agents went to the wrong street and raided a home with the same number on Tuesday.
An assessment of the damage had not been completed, Lewis said, "but of course we will work with the attorney general's office and other agencies to make restitution."
Residents of the four-family home in Newark said officers cursed at them while ripping through two upstairs apartments and asking where guns were for 15 minutes before realizing the mistake.
"The investigator said they were looking for bad people and they were in the wrong place," homeowner Cedelie Pompee told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Thursday's newspapers.
"That's a bad mistake they made," said Pompee, noting that several doors would not close properly.
Pompee, 59, has owned the house for 27 years, and shares it with her two sisters and their children, as well as a family that rents an apartment.
State police also hit a wrong house in May, raiding the home of a retired truck driver in Woodbridge while looking for a prostitution racket.
it gets worse and worse.
I sometimes wonder how many of the raids conducted in Iraq were on the wrong abode.
Lawyers will be busy.
What till they bust in the door of a legit citizen with a CCW who opens up on them. Oops. The citizen will pay for THEIR mistake.
Impossible...I'm sure they have better street maps. Besides, everyone here knows they are all guilty.
Why?
This is the People's Republic of New Jersey where only the politically connected have CCW's.
yeah, and a couple officers will likely pay the ultimate price for THEIR mistake.
They try that down in southern Va., it's gonna be hard times.
Were these officers educated in the public school system where everything is "close enough" if you are just trying. Wrong street, same house number, close enough. sarcasm
Unless they have someone like Janet Reno looking out for them. Ol' Lon Horichuri killing innocent people at Waco/Ruby Ridge and getting over big time.
Because if they're making mistakes like this here......
then in a different country, customs and language....
if they can't read signs in English in America and make mistakes like this, not the first one, BTW, these wrong house invasions seem to happen quite a bit....
The cop in charge should get at least 10 years jail time. At least!
but if your in your house you dont need the CCW to have a gun for a number of reasons.....
The military typically uses redundant checks & balances. These cops use nothing like that, clearly.
It's called a F*!k up!!!!
What a bunch of jack booted pricks, "Oopps, sorry wrong house, go on with your lives"
True. But in New Jersey you have to be just about mortally wounded by the assailant before you can fire back. It's as close to insanity as you can get in the United States.
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