Posted on 05/27/2009 5:18:35 PM PDT by Chet 99
Story Updated: May 22, 2009 at 10:37 PM EDT
GOSHEN — It was a case of mistaken identity in Goshen, as SWAT officers knocked down the wrong door Thursday. Officers were searching for a suspect accused of impersonating a police officer. Instead, they found an elderly couple who had no idea what was happening.
The SWAT team meant to hit the house next door.
Instead, the brunt force of their battering ram wad focused on Harvey Borntrager's front door.
Dents still marked the inner door to the Borntrager's home Friday. The handle of what used to be a screen door is now missing; its glass is now shattered.
Harvey, 68 and his wife Lydia, 63, had just pulled into their driveway on County Road 40 when it all went down.
"I had just got backed in there, and here comes this black vehicle real quick like before I even know what was going on," Harvey explained. "We barely made it out of the truck when they were out of their truck and on the porch."
In a split second, they hit the door.
"The door was down before I even got to talk to anybody," Harvey said. "And I thought, what? What in the world is going on?"
Turns out, the answer wasn't quite what he expected.
"They said, they got a search warrant, and they asked me if I live here," Borntrager said. "I said, yeah, I live here. Then, he asked me what me address is, and I told him what it is."
"He kind of paused for a little bit," Borntrager continued. "Then, he asked me again. And, then he says, well, I think we're at the wrong house!"
They were. SWAT meant to hit the house next door, said Goshen Police Adjutant Joseph Brown in a news release Friday.
"The Goshen Police Department Emergency Response Team, while assisting the Elkhart Police Department in the execution of a search warrant on County Road 40 in Elkhart County, made a forced entry into a wrong residence," Brown wrote.
"The Elkhart Police Department had no involvement in the error, and the Goshen Police Department accepts full responsibility," Brown continued.
Goshen Police administrators are conducting an internal investigation to determine what circumstances led up to the mistaken entry, Brown said.
Brown wouldn't comment to WSBT on camera about the incident, saying only "We made a mistake. There's nothing left to say."
But there are plenty of leftover feelings for Harvey and his wife.
"I can't say I'm angry, you know? But I'm a little upset. [Lydia] was very shook up. If we would've been in the house when they broke in, she might've had a heart attack. She was shaking all night," Borntrager said.
The city has offered to make things right.
"They were very apologetic, and all that. And, I think rightfully so. We've hired Bail Construction to fix the door, and the city will be paying for it," Borntrager said.
"The important thing is, nobody got hurt. Anything that went wrong with the door can be fixed. But, I'm hoping it wouldn't ever happen to anybody else. It's not a fun thing to go through," he continued.
Elkhart County Prosecutor Curtis Hill says Robert Revoir, 39 was arrested after police eventually served the search warrant on the home next door.
Revoir's probably cause hearing was held Friday, and he now faces preliminary charges of impersonating a public servant and unlawful use of body armor. Both are class D felonies.
Witnesses told Elkhart Police that Revoir had identified himself a police officer while working as a repo man. He remained in the Elkhart County Jail Friday evening on $10,000 bond, and is scheduled to appear in court on May 29.
In the meantime, the Borntragers are just concentrating on moving on.
"Some people have said we should sue the city and all that, but I don't have any plans to do that," Borntrager said. "I just want to get my front door fixed."
You’re right - my bad. These Bozos shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath as our nation’s best.
“For jobs Sheriff Andy used to handle.”
Yep. And still could handle, if needed. Bloated budgets is right.
Exactly, especially since there have been plenty of criminals who have kicked in doors and screamed “Police”.
No knock, and idiots raiding homes is stupid and dangerous. Luckily it was an elderly couple who were outside the home, in the middle of the day. Especially since there are lots of us well armed people here in this state. Quite a few would defend their home especially since we passed castle doctrine.
We also tend to frown on breaking and entering which is what this is without a valid warrant for this address.
Really? Sheriff Andy was who they called in to take down a house full of MS-13 back in the day, huh?
Maybe they should call in Sheriff Andy to take out those people out at the local motel who're selling loads of meth out of the room.
FYI-
I'm sure this will still not help the situation but: SWAT, ERT, HRT, whatever it's called is utilized most of the time for serving high risk warrants. The team itself doesn't decide what the targets are or what is "high risk" no instead it's lawyers, judges, and command staff that decide that.
Judging from their last name, they most likely are Mennonites and will not sue.
Like I wrote, in a state that will force you, ticket you, fine you for not wearing your safety belt, or flotation gear, or have all your safety crap working on your car, if you are in a job, having taxes extracted from you, by gun point, and don’t like the idea of being shot..so you wear a vest...that’s illegal.
Which of course is stupid.
Now we have a guy, vest aside, who is lawfully repo-ing property( an importing thing in a semi free market society ) and with out contacting him, the law forcement bureaucracy take the word of an other, possibly disgruntled, pissed off ‘owner’ of what ever he repoed. And they do a SWAT dance.
Stupid done, over a stupid law, on the word of a person who couldn’t and didn’t make payments and didn’t voluntarily return property, as he agreed to do somewhere in the contract, such that this guy had to go get it.
Must not be a lot of top flite crime in that area.
“Or just catch him when he’s leaving or coming home. “
Thats no fun and doesn’t appeal to the gung ho types.
I guess I should just abandon that idea of taking the seam ripper to my Carharts, filling them up with Kevlar and sewing them back up.
There goes one Summer project.
“Body armor is not for the untrained. “
Why praytell, is it too good for us plebes?
Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out and I’m tired of the nanny state.
It’s really absurd these days. There’s county departments, city departments, university departments... and I suppose there could be others that aren’t hitting me between the eyes right now.
I fully agree, it can no longer be ignored.
Remember back about a decade ago when the government had a fire sale, and they were giving away tons of stuff to local law enforcement offices? Some of them were getting old military surplus helicopters and other things they couldn’t even afford the maintenance on
Bontrager, William
Date(s) of Interview: August 31, 1977
Interviewer: Anderson, Terry H.
William Bontrager, attorney and judge in Elkhart, Indiana, discusses the legal profession in Indiana.
He first outlined his childhood and educational background, culminating in a law degree from the Indiana University School of Law. He discusses his father's, D. Russell Bontrager, career in the law. He reflects upon the success and actions of the Indiana Bar Association.
He discusses the public's perceptions of the legal profession in Indiana. Mr. Bontrager describes the powers and procedures of the courts in Elkhart, Indiana and the rest of the state.
He describes his appointment to the Indiana Board of Corrections, focusing on the innovations and challenges of the correctional system in Indiana. He outlines criminal rehabilitation programs like work release, shock probation, and probation. He discusses correctional facilities and their relationship to the community they are located in. He discusses the interactions between the Board of Corrections, the Department of Corrections, and the governor's office.
Mr. Bontrager finally reflects on the political aspects of his tenure as judge in Elkhart, and the public's influence on a judge's decision making process.
Police departments in the ‘40, 50’s and later were full of combat veterans of the Bulge, Philippines, Tarawa. They all would of been more like Andy than now.
I often wonder if cops ‘get it’. That the more laws, the more things and acts that become ‘illegal’ the more citizens that just yesterday used to be lawful are now ‘illegal’ in more ways, each way of which can be baloney sliced into more infractions, the less support they get the less they are liked, the more they are seen as not as citizens but as agents of the state.
Many cities have near half arrest rates for murder with convictions of half again, let alone rape, assaults, thefts, break’ins. Yet have a turn single out, one of thousands every day, of which the police cite a few, and yet mass death doesn’t occur, you still get the felony stop, rudeness, cranky pissed off cop, or two cruisers because it is such a crime day. And if you go to the station, there are yet more guys pushing papers, forms, admin, ....
Why were New York, Boston, Detroit police at one time able to police the city without even guns? Because the laws were few, basic as the Old Testament, and the police were seen as fellows, as hired citizens, not agents of the state against the citizens.
Kevlar? That you can literally buy, by the ton in any marine supply?
Just say you were on your way to the boat yard. Or, that you once got hit by a boom, and it’s not a bullet vest, it’s a boom vest. Or you play rugby and have little girl ribs and they break easy.
What a bunch of featherbedding hokum. None of that pseudo social crap works. But it does fill in the time until retirement to a good right to carry, no income tax state.
Barney Fife doesn't just live in Mayberry.
I hope you don't believe the two items are related. I know of one cop who went into law enforcement after being fired from both burger franchises in town.
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