Posted on 09/28/2006 5:26:29 PM PDT by Sir Gawain
Children handcuffed in police drug raid Dog also killed during bust; 18-year-old charged with misdemeanors, violation
By MIKE GOODWIN, Staff writer First published: Wednesday, September 20, 2006
SCHENECTADY -- A police strike team raided a woman's Prospect Street apartment and handcuffed her children and killed her dog early Tuesday in a $60 pot bust. The woman called it excessive force and a case of mistaken identity, but officers said they stormed the home for a good reason: One of her sons was selling marijuana there.
The Police Department's tactical squad knocked down the front door of the upstairs apartment at 110 Prospect St. and flooded into the apartment shortly after 6 a.m.
"I heard a big boom. My first reaction was to jump out of bed. We were trying to find where our kids were at and all of a sudden we had guns in our faces," said 40-year-old Anita Woodyear, who rents the second-floor flat.
During the ensuing chaos, police handcuffed two of the woman's children, Elijah Bradley, 11, and 12-year-old Victoria Perez, and shot at her dog in the kitchen before killing it in the bathroom, Woodyear said.
"That seems like an awful lot of firepower for marijuana," said Fred Clark of the Schenectady chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "That's like spending $125,000 for $5."
Woodyear said she suspected police had intended to search a neighboring home, but had the wrong address on the search warrant. Neighbors said they suspect illicit drugs are dealt at other homes on the block.
"No apology, no 'sorry about your dog,' " she said.
But police said they have no reason to apologize. They said they raided the house because Woodyear's 18-year-old son, Israel M. Bradley, sold three plastic bags of marijuana there for $40 on Sept. 15. They allege he sold two other bags of marijuana in the house for $20 on Aug. 28, they said.
In addition, police said Bradley was carrying marijuana in the home on Sept. 1.
"We had the absolute right house. We had the absolute right target," said Assistant Chief Michael Seber.
Police said Bradley was one of several drug dealers they have under investigation on Prospect Street.
"The whole street is a mess right now. We'll be back," Seber said.
Bradley was arrested and charged with misdemeanor counts of criminal sale of marijuana, an offense punishable by up to one year in jail. He was also charged with unlawfully possessing marijuana, a violation.
Police Lt. Peter Frisoni said Bradley admitted he sold from the apartment in a statement to investigators after the raid.
"The moral of the story is: If you don't want officers barging into your house with their guns drawn, don't let drug dealers stay with you and deal drugs out of your apartment," Frisoni said.
Woodyear said she is appalled about the way her children were treated -- and said her 12-year-old daughter was hit with pepper spray.
The dog, a pit bull terrier named Precious, urinated on the floor in fear and tried to run from the police before it was killed, Woodyear said.
Police said the animal was aggressive and left them no choice but to shoot.
Elijah Bradley said he awoke to find armed men in his home. "They had the shotgun in my face," the 11-year-old said. "I punched at him. I didn't know who he was."
Police said they had reason to have weapons drawn. Their search warrant noted that among the things they planned to search for were firearms, although no handguns were found.
The NAACP has previously criticized how police conduct raids, most notably during an incident earlier this decade when a Hamilton Hill girl was held at gunpoint and handcuffed after her mother agreed to allow police to search their home for an armed man. The family later sued the city, but the jury awarded no damages. But Paul DerOhannesian, a defense attorney and former Albany County prosecutor, said such a response may have been warranted if police believed there were guns in the house.
"This type of search warrant execution can be very dangerous from a law enforcement point of view," he said.
"You're going to have a heightened sense or need for security for officer safety. You literally have no idea what you're walking into."
And I'm wondering why there is such a thing and who decided they were worth kicking people's doors down.
I am sick of these swat team crap from the police. Just legalize pot and get rid of all these paramilitary police units.
Get rid of these traffic cameras too while they are at it.
John
Then the dog should have known better than to alow criminal acts in his house.
Let the flaming from the anti-pot Gestapo (literally, in this case) begin!
"Worth it" is a good phrase to use. When you realize that the government gets to take any property they sieze and do what they will with it. In the state of MO, when the police sieze property in a drug raid, the funds and property go to the state. If the feds perform a drug raid, assisted by the local police, the feds share the booty with the police department. This led the KC police department to call in the feds at every opportunity, defrauding the state. In fact, the state of MO wound up suing the KCPD because the state wasn't getting its share.
Mark
I love animals. I have raised dobermans , akitas and shih tzus. However pitbulls have the rep of being owned by drug dealers to alert and protect them from the police. I have seen many nice pits, I would not own one myself. I know from friends who are cops its very common for dealers to have their not so friendly pits out in the yard to warn them of a bust and then have more in the house that they breed and use to deter the police. I don't have an opinion on the drug raid really. But I will say this if you are dealing drugs and have children in the house shame on you. I don't think most cops want to shoot your dog but if its a pit or a dobie and they are unsure of the dogs behavior they will shoot it. I would shoot any pit or dog who came into my yard and was aggressive and I love animals.
If you're not invited by the occupant or alerted to a life-threatening circumstance, you have no business being there - legal warrant or not. Especially under these circumstances.
Good post. The voice of reason.
I have to admit, these kinds of stories are starting to bother me. I'm very anti-drug and generally come down on the side of law enforcement, however, some of the stories do make me go hmm.....
susie
I could tell by the tone of you post that this is what you wanted to say. Now you had the opportunity. Was it fun??
"If you're not invited by the occupant or alerted to a life-threatening circumstance, you have no business being there - legal warrant or not. Especially under these circumstances."
So if a cop knows where a criminal lives he cannot go arrest him unless he is 'invited' in.
Respectfully, you don't know every pit bull in the world, so your opinion is just that. Your opinion. There is not a breed of dog out there in which every individual fits the usual breed type. Thus, you cannot say that there is no pit bull who would not run away and cower, even if his family was begin acosted. Well, you can continue saying it, but most people will probably see it for what it is. Your opinion, not a fact.
susie
O.K. then just F'ing nuke the whole 'hood.
Problem solved and no evidence for the pending lawsuits.
These stories are bothering many of us. This is banana republic stuff. This shouldn't be happening in America!
.
Yep just like those damn Israelies. (rolls eyes)
Ding Ding Ding Ding... Congratulations on the greatest non-sequitur on this entire thread. What do the (damn) Israelis have to do with the "War on Drugs?"
I agree with the WOD zealots... Kill 'em all, and let G-d sort them out. If they weren't really selling drugs, well, they were probably doing something else that they deserved killing for.
Mark
The kids are lucky that they didn't get popped like the GD dog!
They'll probably grow up to be criminals anyway - might as well shoot them now!
The cops are tasking too many prisoners in this so-called War On Drugs. What kind of war is it without killing?
Shoot the damned dogs and shoot the damned kids. We can't let the voice of reason slow us down now - YEE-HAW!
Not really fun. I guess you don't want to answer my question.That's alright, you have kind of an indefensible position on this issue.
Friends?
"O.K. then just F'ing nuke the whole 'hood.
Problem solved and no evidence for the pending lawsuits."
Not sure yo which post you are responding but your articulate and well reasoned argument has impressed me.
Hey lets just say nice job. They expended time and effort, got themselves some great publicity and arrested a kid for a misdemeanor. Nice priorities.
****Police said Bradley was one of several drug dealers they have under investigation on Prospect Street***
Maybe if they are lucky they can get some more misdemeanor arrests on the block, now that the rest have been warned.
Why not? Works for vampires...
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