Posted on 06/06/2010 12:57:13 PM PDT by Chet 99
Posted: Friday, May 21, 2010 10:05 am By Amy Sherrill
TIMES RECORD • ASHERRILL@SWTIMES.COM | 2 comments
Drug investigators entered the wrong house while trying to serve a search warrant last week.
Investigators from the Sebastian County Sheriff's Office, the 12th/21st Judicial Drug Task Force and the Barling Police Department had the homeowners handcuffed by the time they realized the mistake, said Capt. Kevin Nickson.
All the paperwork for the search warrant was correct, said Prosecuting Attorney Dan Shue.
The night-time search warrant was to be executed at a Holly Avenue residence, according to court records. Instead, authorities entered another home on Holly Avenue where a man, woman and baby who are "law-abiding citizens" live, authorities said.
Authorities said the door to the residence was unlocked, and they opened it and walked in.
Investigator Cpl. Anthony Sacco was out checking the address on the mailbox as other investigators entered the house. Once inside, Sacco alerted Nickson, who also was there, about the mistake.
The man and woman were not arrested and handcuffs were taken off them. A baby was also present, but was asleep the entire time.
"You can't apologize enough for a screwup like that," Nickson said.
While it was a Drug Task Force case, the majority of law enforcement officers were from the Sheriff's Office.
The protocol normally followed before executing a search warrant calls for investigators to scout out the location prior to the search. That was not done in this case. "That's the kind of mistakes we can't afford to make," Nickson said.
Investigators later served the search warrant on a nearby house, where they arrested three people and recovered marijuana from the residence, said Nickson.
Had these “wrong” persons fought back...
Same thing happened to my nephew and his girlfriend shortly after moving into a D.C. apartment. Scary.
Glad this type of thing hardly eeeEEEEEEEver happens.
/eyeroll-facepalm
Did the dog survive?
Unlocked? Words fail...
I have been told, repeatedly, that attacks like this are rare.
;)
...unless they are harmed--either shot resisting a home invasion, or the family dog is shot, or someone has a stress-induced heart attack--in which case you have to cover up a screwup like that. WOD, along with its friend civil asset forfeiture, is a huge detriment to personal liberty.
If I was on a jury if someone was charged with killing a cop during a nightitime no-knock raid, the accused would likely walk.
Never used an illegal drug in my life, but there is no reason not to arrest a suspect while he is out in public.
Look for it to happen more often.
“The man and woman were not arrested and handcuffs were taken off them.”
It’s so easy to get handcuffed and not arrested these days!
My front door is often open, and a LE mentioned that could be dangerous. I simply grinned and replied "Yes, it could."
/johnny
Do you know Miranda?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRGgTm7npVI
(waring: bad language)
The city better get out the checkbook,’cause the lawyers will be coming.
So why didn’t they handcuff the baby?
You can’t be too careful, you know.
Maybe this is how the gun grabbers will try to disarm us.
We need to rid ourselves of SWAT teams and “Drug Task Forces,” and go back to the good ol’ days of having an elected sheriff with a civilian posse. But then, I’m all for disarming federal officers, and making them dependent on local police forces when it comes time to get rough with citizens of the states.
Disarm them and depending on what agency they work for -give them vehicles only on a "absolutely need to have" basis. Let the rest ride bikes, walk or get fired.
Where I live in Florida, the Forestry Service guys are armed to the teeth and ride around in $50,000 V-8 loaded 4WD pick-ups. They're better equiped than I was when fighting a war in the Mideast.
We also have Wildlife Officers in the Gulf cruising around in pimped-out boats with big dual Mercs whose sole purpose is to f*** with boaters and fishermen who are generally minding their own business.
LOL
Game wardens are bitter mall cop wannabees.
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