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Posted on 11/21/2007 7:28:37 AM PST by TSgt
LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. -- A SWAT team raids the wrong home in Lawrenceburg, Ind., now the homeowner wants some answers.
Police said they were led to the Village Apartments on the trail of fugitive Sean Deaton.
Convinced he was inside apartment 407G, the Lawrenceburg SWAT unit surrounded the building.
"It looked like they were ready to go to war," one neighbor said. "Some of the ones out here had AR15's and shotguns."
Neighbors said police spent hours, ordering Deaton to surrender. But when that didn't work, they responded with tear gas and forced entry.
"It looked like my apartment was on fire. The smoke was just blowing out of my windows," Kayla Irwin, the tenant of 407G said.
Irwin, a single mother of two, said she is unable to live in her apartment and didn’t even know the man police were searching for.
Now, she said, she has been left with the mess and no apology.
"It's all covered with poison. I don't know where to start over with two kids," said Irwin. "How do you start with replacing the items that your kids have had since the day they were born?"
She said one of her pet guinea pigs was also killed during the incident.
Neighbors said the police action was simply overkill.
"Overpowered. In my opinion it looked like they were enjoying what they were doing. They did not need to do all this," Emanuel Brightwell, an Iraq veteran and neighbor said.
Irwin said she appealed to the police, but hasn’t gotten anywhere.
"They basically just said, sorry for the inconvenience. Go ahead and clean it up. Clean up our mess," Irwin said.
She said she's had to borrow everything from family in the week since the incident. She also said she can't stay in the apartment because of the acrid gas residue.
An assistant chief and another officer were at the Village Apartments talking to Irwin within 30 minutes of Target 5 asking them about the incident, telling her that they would try to get some money so she could clean her clothes and furnishing on her own.
"This is the first time this has happened. I'm surprised the incident has not been remedied. We will take care of it the best we can," the assistant chief said.
Until the incident is remedied, the manager of the apartment complex said he has put Irwin, her kids and her pets in another apartment.
The city will settle this for large amount of $ just to make it go away, as long as she make a large enough stink about it!
For the residents sake I certainly hope so.
No charges against the cops of course.
The police DO enjoy their weaponry power trip. It is like watching a sick little bully kid take joy of pulling the wings off of flys.
Policeman’s job is easy in a police state.
Yeah, those gunea pigs can be nasty
Yep, and they will justify it at the drop of a hat. “Yessiree, that ole boy has an arsenal in his house. A .22LR and a whole brick of ammo.”
This kind of crap is really, really getting on the side of absurdity. What is insane is the coppers don’t really give a crap if they raid the wrong house or kill the wrong person. The only way I could see it slow down is if the cops could end up being charged crimminally, but that ain’t gonna happen. Talk about a classic case of the fox guarding the hen house.
I often side with LE but “no” the responsibility was not hers for not “inviting” them in.
“Something odd here”
I agree. That’s why I never get worked up over these types of stories. There are usually details that are convienently left out as to invoke outrage...and it seems to have succeeded.
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“When they kill the dog, they say “The deputy felt his life was in danger”. But now they’re killing guinea pigs!”
I take it you never saw Monty Pyton, oh wait that was a rabbit. Perhaps in their blood lust they failed to properly identify the type of rodent.
Attacking innocent people with a goon squad is dangerous?
Damn site safer than being a dog catcher, window washer or cab driver.
“Attacking innocent people with a goon squad is dangerous?”
You came into the conversation late and missed the point. I was responding to someone’s assertion that a SWAT team is even needed at all...not in relation to this case.
The police dept messed up here big time and needs to make amends. But there are circumstances when SWAT is needed given the danger of some criminals.
Since we have an "all volunteer" police force these jack booted thugs made choices about the line of work and risks they were willing to take. I'm sure there were equally safe means of securing that apartment that didn't involve excess testosterone and paramilitary hardware. There also has to be remedies when these pin heads screw up. How about someone send them over with some cleaning equipment to clean the apartment and deduct the replacement costs for damaged items, along with a significant punitive settlement from their paychecks.
Uh, usually when such raids are conducted, it's not a "Knock, knock -- oh, pardon, we're looking for X, may we come in?" situation. Usually they bash down the door, toss in the smokers or flash-bangs, and charge in. Then they cuff everyone (at gunpoint) and ask questions much later.
You don't GET an opportunity to invite them in. Never mind the fact that letting any law enforcement officer in w/o a warrant is a bad idea, because more often than not, they'll FIND something to bust you for.
“Easy for someone to say who doesn’t put their life on the line bringing in the bad guys.”
Sounds romantic and altruistic, sadly the reality is much different. When they recruit for swat teams they use the weapons and tactics to attract the kinda of folks who want to play with those items. Firefighters and paramedics are the ones who save lives. Cops control traffic and play with guns.
These guys are all about their ego’s and their military tactics. Anyone of us could go out and find a place to buy drugs within 2-3 hours and yet the cops can’t find them.
i'm not saying it didn't happen, but there is always another side.
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