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."
MORE ABOUT IT HERE
http://www.elfie.org/~croaker/lamplugh.html
"If the dog attacked the police, then it was doing it's job. Dogs are supposed to attack intruders kicking in your door."
Just what I was thinking. I'd like to think even my normally loving, docile dogs would become agressive if someone burst in and started pushing my family around.
Besides, as someone else pointed out, the dog wouldn't run from the kitchen to the bathroom if it was after the cop, would it? No. It would attached by its teeth to some part of the cop's body. Given that, let's take a pop quiz. If you're the cops, what's the best thing to do in this situation?
A) Shoot the dog
B) Close the bathroom door, rendering the door harmless.
Okay! Round Two. You want to catch an 18 year old citizen-gone-wrong, who's selling pot... do you:
A) Put some cop in a car outside the apartment, wait for the 18 year old to show up, and arrest him on sight? or...
B) Bust into the family's apartment, pepper-spray children, handcuff everyone and kill their dog?
Well, I guess we know what THEIR answer is.
We have drug dealers because of the war on drugs. My point stands. Your point isn't a point. There are many creeps, not all of them drug dealers.
If drugs were legal for majors, drugs would still be illegal for minors and we would still have drug dealers selling to minors.
Either you miss the point or you are for the sale of drugs to minors being legal.
Had it been something like crack cocaine, they might have burned the place down.
Wrong. Indonesia executes more drug dealers than any other country on the planet. They average three per year.
Only 3 dealers per year in the whole country? Seems like the execution policy is working.
First, this woman's kids should be put in a foster home, if it can be proved she knew of her son's drug dealing.
Second, as a pitbull owner, I would shoot the dog, too. You do not wait for a pit to bite you before you eliminate it as a threat.
Third, there is no tolerance for drug dealers. "Only $60 worth of pot" is $60 more that is allowed by law.
Why I can understand why a cop might become frightened at the sight of a large dog and shoot it proactively ("understand" , mind you, NOT automatically support or defend) there is no excuse for killing cats or kittens (or teeny little dogs, for that matter). There is just no defense that can be made for such mindless brutality.
My thoughts exactly. Although I would add that the government has many supporters, many of them here at FR, unfortunately.
Dogs can be effectively tasered. Shooting them is sick and evil, and should only be done under the most extreme circumstances. Each case should be reviewed as a police action shooting on the same level as if they had shot a person.
I remember a famous quote but not the name of the person attributed to it. Something along the line of "honest men do not wear masks" or somthing like it.
Sixty dollars' worth of pot warrants a no-knock police entry employing paramilitary tactics and costing the taxpayers thousands of dollars---both for the operation and ensuing legal fees because of the damage they did?
You must be kidding. Nobody is that Naive.
That's why I should start the website exposing all of the cruel, evil monsters that do things like that. I saw the video of the cop killing the dog for no reason. He should have his face on a website and be publically shamed for the rest of his life.
No problem, its all in the game.
I dont try to defend the fatc that the kid was breaking the law, and deserved to be arrested, \
Probably one police officer with a real police uniform on could have knocked on the door at about 9am, told the perp he was under arrest, and walked away with him.
Sans handcuffs on the kids and shooting the dog.
Believe me I like police officers, I am around them a lot and hear their talk. They need a strong supervisory hand or they overkill like this.
I ought to start a website to expose the names of the agents who shoot dogs/stomp cats... I might look into doing that for my next website. As a public service.
That's an excellent idea. I'd be happy to send you a donation to help with any expenses you incur.
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.