Police Storm Wrong Apartment, Resident Dies of Heart Attack

WABC News NYC ^ | May 16, 2003 | Art McFarland

[Unknown Freeper]

(Harlem-WABC, May 16, 2003) — Police smashed down an apartment door and used a flash grenade in their search for a potentially dangerous suspect. But it was the wrong apartment, and the woman who lived inside is now dead after suffering a heart attack.

Police smashed down an apartment door and used a flash grenade in their search for a potentially dangerous suspect. But it was the wrong apartment, and the woman who lived inside is now dead after suffering a heart attack.

What happened at 310 W. 143rd Street was meant to be the end result of a drug investigation based on confidential information from a police informant. But it is now among the most tragic errors of the NYPD.

Lucille Ross, Building Resident: "She was such a lovely person. If something was to happen with her like this, I want to know why."

The search warrant was apparently issued for apartment 6F in the multi-unit building. It was the home of Alberta Spruill.

Today Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said it was based on what investigators thought was reliable information. But it all turned out to be a terrible mistake.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly: "Entry was made by officers from our Emergency Services Unit who used a flash grenade during that entry. Once inside the officers found the occupant, a 57-year-old woman, identified as Alberta Spruill. She was briefly handcuffed while police conducted a cursory search of the apartment. The patrol captain then entered, and saw that the apartment did not match the description given by the informant, and immediately ordered that the handcuffs be removed."

The commissioner said Ms. Spruill soon told officers she had a heart condition, and then complained of chest pains. EMS was called to the scene and administered aid. But Ms. Spruill died a short time later at Harlem Hospital.

Commissioner Ray Kelly: "On behalf of the entire New York City Police Department, I want to offer my condolences and sympathy to the family of Alberta Spruill. I also want to offer my apology. This is indeed a profound tragedy."

Calvin Alston, Building Resident: "We're all just devestated. Really devestated. Because this is a woman that got up and went to church every day ... went to work every day. And we're all just devestated that this would happen to someone like this."

Police Commissioner Kelly did say a "flash grenade" was used at apartment 6F before officers entered. It may be the use of that flash grenade broke procedure. The ESU lieutenant who used it is now on administrative leave pending the investigation. Those grenades have been used 85 times this year.

And NYPD tells us only four mistakes out of 1,900 search warrants have been made this year. The investigation of this tragedy continues.

[A CA Guy]

How so? Another person expressed the proposition to another poster that "THEY ALL DO IT"...blah blah" which is a common ploy to try and make the indefensible more acceptable!

Democrats try this all the time and illegal drug advocates are to the left of them. So to find them using he same techniques doesn't surprise me.

You were just failing to differentiate between a response describing known techniques to one regarding discussion of the issue itself.

[A CA Guy]

I agree, they need to ad additional charges to the criminals that were making them go out there to enforce the law to begin with. Thank you for that!

[A CA Guy]

Continue reading what I am talking about. I am saying the device was a common device used to break up crowds and it is not common for people to drop dead like that.
She more than likely was sick already.

This should cause a review anyway of the device for safety's sake.

[ChefKeith]

Commissioner Ray Kelly: "On behalf of the entire New York City Police Department, I want to offer my condolencesjob and sympathy money to the family of Alberta Spruill. I also want to offer my apology. This is indeed a profound tragedystupid mistake by blundering IDIOTS."

Trust Us We are here to help You... BANG! stop or we'll shoot.

[TLBSHOW]

You are getting good at cut and paste.

[A CA Guy]

How do you know such things? Make some sense of that for me please, because if this was common knowledge there would be jobs lost.
What you said makes no common sense unless you are claiming a somewhat global conspiracy which would seem very unrealistic.

[Howlin]

OMG....it thinks you're copying it.

[ThinkDifferent]

Democrats try this all the time and illegal drug advocates are to the left of them.

Define "illegal drug advocate".

[A CA Guy]

Show me where anyone planned to have a "Faulty" raid! That's proving criminal intent if you can show their was intentional planning for a "faulty" raid.

More than likely there was a bad address or faulty information in the mix that caused this.

That still would leave this on the backs of the mutant drug users that caused this by making enforcment have to deal with their criminal behavior.

[TLBSHOW]

Question for you too, is your head in the sand?

AMELIA: The question is, how do you know all these people are using drugs?

Answer the question, Todd.

Why not spend some time in the library on the internet and please post the link to where I am wrong that teachers, the lawyers, the police officers or the judges smoke pot , thanks!

[gitmo]

In other words, she would have died eventually anyway.

[A CA Guy]

Those that "advocate (approve)" "illegal (against the law)" drugs regarding selling, transportation and use.

[TLBSHOW]

it

well aren't you sweet!

[The FRugitive]

Do they yell "fire in the hole!" when they throw grenades into people's homes?

[The FRugitive]

You are truly a sick one to come in and try to justify this. Disgusting.

[justshe]

Another attempt at dodgeball. YOU MADE THE ASSERTION.....back up your ASSERTION. I posted your own words BACK to you.....

Answer the question Todd.

TLBSHOW: So the question is why aren't the teachers the lawyers the police officers or the judges homes doors busted down?

AMELIA: The question is, how do you know all these people are using drugs?

Answer the question, Todd.

[A CA Guy]

We all do, but the fact that she died from what they used was as rare as drowning in an inch of water.
So it was more than likely a DEATH due to some bad prior health condition.

My only statement about her was this sounds like she had a bad health condition that left her susceptible to death whereas most uses of the device doesn't typically cause death.

I think this device is used in crowd control and no way this would be used in crowds if it was typically a killer.

[harrowup]

Where's the recommendations for changed procedures to prevent something like this from happening again?

Mistakes like this might just be forgivable. Mistakes like this that we fail to learn from, that we fail to even care to learn from, are not.

A mistake is when you hire some fellows who get a charge out of knocking down doors. Ever since the Special Teams were introduced and later when the courts permitted no-knocks there has been a constant abuse of the innocent.

It could happen to any one or all of us...in our homes, offices and cars. There is no rational law enforcement objective served by licensed goons with body armor when applied against a fugitive. If you can't catch him on the street while he is paying off the watch commander then you have no business going into an apartment.

SWAT teams are historically more destructive and less successful than the old fashioned bullhorn and cordon.

Send all of these pumped up jerks over to Afghanistan and let them work out their rage on old Mullas and stringy goats.

[A CA Guy]

Yes the death of this woman belongs in the charges somewhere of the illegal drug mutants these officers were there to bust. Had the mutants not caused there to be enforcement, this woman would not have died at that moment.

Very true!

[Rodney King]

Show me where anyone planned to have a "Faulty" raid! That's proving criminal intent if you can show their was intentional planning for a "faulty" raid. More than likely there was a bad address or faulty information in the mix that caused this.

Of course I said it was an accident. However, in most parts of society the people who make mistakes are typically the ones held to be at fault, even it they were just mistakes.

Your insistence that the cops bear no responsibility because they would not be doing that if it wasn't for the druggies would be like me saying that if I ran over a girl by accidnet on the way to pick up milk for my kid wouldn't be my fault, but rather the fault of my kid because she has to drink so damn much milk.

Your position is that of the liberal. That everything is someone elses fault. It's no different than saying that the criminal is not really to blame for his actions because he had a bad childhood or something.