Posted on 01/04/2009 6:40:12 AM PST by rellimpank
Las Vegas police officers served a search warrant at the Seven Hills home of Emmanuel Dozier on Panorama Ridge Drive in Henderson at about 9:30 last Sunday evening.
The officers say they announced themselves, got no response, and opened fire to break the lock off the metal front door.
At that point, the suspect, a 32-year-old sheet-metal worker, also opened fire. Three police officers were wounded.
Mr. Dozier, who was suspected of cocaine trafficking and is now held in lieu of $3 million bail, says he thought it was a home invasion.
"I want you to know something in your heart. I did not mean to shoot any cops," police report that he told them.
An attorney for his girlfriend, Belinda Saavedra, says her client dialed 9-1-1 from the home during the police raid, believing it to be a (non-police) home invasion.
(Excerpt) Read more at lvrj.com ...
Don't cops watch cable TV?
I’m no fan of these raids, but if continued, I’d like to see a law at least requiring these things to be recorded. Too often, especially when the occupants are dead, the facts get a little fuzzy. Did they announce themselves before they entered, did they whisper it. We need tape and maybe it would change the way they do things.
I doubt the Chief would entrust expensive high tech gear to a bunch of guys who tried to shoot off a lock.
Now, an obvious question ~ was this a padlock OUTSIDE? And if so, was this the front door or a side/back door, and if not, how was it the occupants put a padlock on the door after they wet inside.
Something's not computing well in this one.
Not that they were justified in this case, but something like this this is what’s used.
Actually, that's only true with "standard" loads. There are some shotgun specialty loads that are designed to do exactly this, taking out deadbolt locks, and even door hinges. It's typically a frangible, powdered metal projectile that is fired from just a few inches away, and it will take out a deadbolt lock or door hinge, even from 16ga metal doors.
These are typically known as "breaching loads," and are as deadly to humans as a slug.
Mark
Do you think they used such a weapon?
Sorry, you give up your Constitutional rights at the moment the SWAT team rolls up to your property. They can't be at the wrong house, have a suspect warrant. < / s >
The good news is they didn't shoot the dog, of course they never had the chance so we will never really know for sure
Great observation. This is exactly the kind of question a video would have recorded. Most cops have dash vids, so why not head-mounts. BTW, I'm not a cop basher and generally like to give them the benefit of the doubt, but most of these raids in retrospect seem a little overkill. Hell, even David Koresh could have been arrested on a trip to town.
I thought shooting at a lock to break down a door was an idiot move only done in movies......not by “trained professionals”
I think we still need to know what kind of door lock these folks had. If the police were standing there firing at a padlock on the outside of a home I'd have to doubt their mental ability. If just an ordinary passage lock they could have busted it with a hammer. The type of locks I have wouldn't have been bothered by that breaching load but it might have knocked a hole in my metal doors.
We had a lock failure in the door leading to our men's room at work. Couldn't get in. Fortunately we could use other facilities elsewhere in the building.
This lock had a titanium housing. It couldn't be bent, banged on, sawn, or whatever. I got one of my carbide tipped machine tool drill bits (appropriate for boring holes in Engine blocks) and busted it up in a couple of hours.
That lock impressed me although I had to question the wisdom of the guy who thought it would be good to use such a device INSIDE a building for a very high use room!
Do you think they used such a weapon?
Well, first off, the weapon is just a standard issue, 12ga shotgun. Nothing special about it. It's just the round that's different. And that's what many PDs use IF they use a shotgun to breech an entry, rather than a battering ram.
Actually, this is a much safer load to use than a slug or buckshot for taking out a door - Once the energy is imparted to a sufficiently hard object, it just turns to powder, and it's safer for everyone involved. Of course, human tissue ISN'T hard enough, so if it were used against a person, it would be like hitting them with a 12ga slug.
As far as sparks, I suppose that it's a possibility, but it doesn't seem to have caused any problems "in the real world" so far, at least not that I'm aware of.
Mark
Just arresting a suspect like that would be work for regular police. I think there are SWAT raids that are not necessary but are done anyway as an excuse to increase funding for SWAT teams. If the suspect is innocent but is killed shooting back, thinking he is being attacked by criminals, so much the better. The person killed will not be a witnesses. The news media will just report that a "suspected drug ring-leader" was killed in a shoot-out with police. The so-called civil libertarians are mostly concerned with hardened criminals and terrorists, so there generally is not much of an uproar when an ordinary citizen is the victim of a police death squad. Most liberals are eager for the day when death squads are used for things in addition to bogus drug raids - wait till they ban guns, cigarettes, sugar, fur coats, incadescent light bulbs, etc. Obama's domestic army will be very busy.
I saw a picture of the door. Basically, it was just a screen door that opens outward and has some ornamental/security aluminum or wrought iron bars on it. Looks like it was shot no less than 6 times plus a larger hole. There was glass brick, about 18 inches wide to one side of the door.
After all what are you doing in their that you don't want people to see?
If you make your home safe from common criminals the government objects;welcome to bizarro world !
And just so people know,, the door shooting is almost sure to be those 12 ga “breaching round” shotshells. Size of a 12 ga slug, but it somehow is destroyed into powder on impact.
Blow a lock assembly or hinges right away.
But they sound exactly like a full on 12 Ga.
A great legitimate tool in a legitimate circumstance, ie,,Iraq,,,or maybe here for hostage rescue. But to stop some dope from being flushed?
We truly have lost inmeasurable rights in the war on drugs.
The militarizarion of law enforcement here is not a good thing IMO. When you have a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail. Recruiting posters in my town look like they are trying to form a delta force/seal/ranger unit or something. No norman rockwell posters of a beat cop talking kindly to a runaway kid.
That being said,,, i don’t have a problem with swat capabilities, or officers having assault rifles. Our cops should be as well-armed as their adversaries. IE,,, the photos of cops with Thompson subguns. But depts need to use this capability *very* sparingly, and continually instill respect for civil rights.
Even David Koresh of branch davidian Waco fame was a candidate for this “arrest away from home” techinque. He was widely seen in town on a regular basis. He used to always eat at the Chelsea Street pub.
Also,, a few years before the raid, he was arrested on a homicide warrant. (found not guikty at trial)
How did they get him? Two McClennan county Sheriff deputies in suits walked up and knocked on the door with a warrant.
And you are correct friend, a newsmaking splashy raid is something that is good for funding.
Same here. Dozier needs to not only be acquitted but win the lottery as well.
This kind of crap needs to end. I can think of few violations more offensive than that which Mr. Dozier and his family have been subjected to. And now he languishes in prison as his family figures out a way to put food on their table and make their house payments for defending his family against invaders shooting their way into his home.
This crap just burns me up and has really done a lot to turn myself, a 40 year-old, active duty sailor, serving my country, law-abiding, family man against the police.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.