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.
I love that! Is that a Rove original?
you’d probably LOVE a country with no police. i wonder what that would look like.
“next time you or anyone you know is the victim of a crime, call a firefighter.”
He’s right. If I’m a victim of a crime and the cops show up all they’re going to do is fill out a report. If I’m injured and the cops show up all they do is call the paramedics, then fill out a report. If I bleed to death while waiting for the paramedics they fill out a different report, then laugh and joke about how stupid I was for being the victim of a crime and ending up DRT.
“if it’s between officer safety and property damage, i’ll take officer safety.”
absolutely, woulda helped though if they had the right house. WOulda also helped if they had cleaned up. Might also have helped if they paid for the damages.
so why have police at all?
“Some of the ones out here had AR15’s and shotguns.”
If the resident was so weapon savvy he recognized an AR-15, why couldn’t he tell us they had a 12GA Mossberg 385 pump with 20” barrel and modified choke?
Cops behaving badly - once again.
the chief said it would all be taken care of. and if it isn’t, she’ll sue and probably win. as it should be. cops make mistakes. some small ones everyday and once in awhile, they make big ones. but it’s better than the alternative.
I'd be willing to bet that a country where the decent citizens have the tools and mindset to protect themselves would be far safer than any police state.
Well, since it was an apartment building, perhaps she thought the guy was in the unit next door or something.
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.
You mean the DONUT SHOP isn’t really a stake out?
Firearms make polite neighbors.
No, it's a firearms-related ping-list.
The problems with police forces stem largely from situations beyond their control, such as state and local governments becoming increasingly intrusive with their laws and regulations and the general declining standards of morality and civility, which affect both the population overall and the men and women who serve as LEOs.
The point was far from erroneous, and you’re just acting as an apologist for this idiot asst. chief.
The asst. chief acts like the event is a rarity and something they’d never thought of. This only shows his lack of knowledge of national events and trends, as well documented at the Cato link I posted, and elsewhere. Ignorance and lack development of procedures to prevent such an occurrence locally is nothing to be proud of.
The lady and her children were harmed, because her apartment was fumigated with tear gas, and her clothes, furniture etc are unusable.
How about you fire a few dozen pepper rounds into YOUR house, and see if your family has been hurt?
He’s pretty much an apologist for these cops, from what I can see.
I have no idea, I just copied it from somewhere when I saw it.
When the government raises taxes and reduces personal liberties because we are engaged in a war on drugs, or a war on terror, or a war on crime, there has to be an equal commitment from law enforcement that this is a war. Believe me, these slapdiqs have much higher pay, better working conditions, and better benefits and retirement than the troops in the field. If the big gun, little d*ck LEO's can't hang, then they should get out of the profession, not hide behind excessive force and governmental immunity.
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