What happens when a platoon of SWAT cops in a smallish-town of 52,000 descends upon the wrong home in search of a teenage punk? Well, if they toss destructive devices all around, bust out windows and storm inside like they’re on a mission in Fallujah, there’s more than a chance that their actions will have life-threatening consequences for the occupants of the targeted dwelling.
And that’s exactly what happened in Elyria, Ohio. Despite doing multiple “knock and talk” visits to a home in that city and being told that the current residents were new renters, the Elyria PD smelled a rat. They just didn’t figure that law-abiding renters, answering their door, would ever tell the truth to LEOs pounding on their door with their mean mugs on display.
So after a year, Elyria’s boys in blue would pull a mid-day raid on the home. Desperate to catch their wanted man 14-year-old teen, they bunched up like a gaggle of overweight, out-of-shape amateur airsofters LARPing (LARPing is live-action role playing for those not into that scene) their way through another weekend match on the airsoft field. Only instead of Airsoft guns, they had real guns and destructive devices for good measure.
Intent on seizing the initiative and taking their wanted fugitive into custody, they proceeded to toss multiple flash-bang grenades and “break and rake” the windows of the home. Again, they did so after repeatedly being told that the subject of their investigation no longer lived at the residence.
Despite that, they swore an affidavit to a judge to get a warrant to search the home for the target of their investigation.
Police used a battering ram to bust open the front door less than ten seconds after announcing themselves…right after they’d tossed those destructive devices.
You know, when you’re throwing destructive devices, the same as firing a gun, you have the responsibility to know who and what is in the path (and beyond) of your delivery.
But not only did the Elyria PD not check things out, they proceeded to “break and rake” some of the first-floor windows, under one of which was a one-year-old with a heart condition. Essentially a baby that didn’t react well to the toxic fumes from the flash bang grenade’s detonation.
An hour later, the mom was finally able to take the infant to the hospital for real pediatric treatment instead of a police EMT that diagnosed the baby as “fine” in the aftermath of the traumatic raid.
Yep, cops were looking for a 14-year-old on weapons charges, too, not John Wayne Gacy.
From the UK Daily Mail:
Police in Ohio searching for a teen on weapons charges raided the wrong home, seriously injuring a 17-month-old special needs boy with a heart defect.
The incident took place around 2.15pm Wednesday when a swarm of officers from the Elyira Police Special Response Team busted into the home on Parmely Avenue. The raid was captured on a ring camera.
Reida Jennings’ niece, Courtney Price, 25, and her 17-month-old son, Waylon May, were visiting from Kentucky and staying at her home. The toddler was awaiting open heart surgery that is scheduled for next month.
During the bust,…
Whoa Tex. There was no “bust” there. The Elyria LARPers, all dressed up like they were going to SWAT Team fantasy camp, were at the wrong house.
Price said the officers threw two flash bangs through the window. The grenades hit near her son, who was sitting in a swing near the window, and covered him in glass and smoke.
The terrified mother told Fox8 News that guns were pointed at her and she feared she’d be shot if she ran to her child. ‘One second everything was normal, 15 seconds later our world was flipped upside down,’ she recalled.
Authorities in the town about 20 miles from Cleveland said the raid was part of an investigation – one reportedly looking for a teen on weapon charges. The police claimed that the devices, ‘diversionary devices,’ used do not produce burns and do not contain pepper gas or chemical agents.
The suspect was not found at the home.
Hopefully the infant survives and enjoys a gold-plated upbringing in a city outside of Elyria, including the finest university education, courtesy of the Elyria taxpayers. The leadership of the Elyria PD apparently created and condoned such a circus. The care for the child, as well as any monies paid as the result of lawsuits related to this incident need to come from the department’s budget, which unfortunately translates into the fact that city taxpayers will foot this bill.
Frankly, whoever presented this to a judge needs to find a new line of work and forfeit their pension because this has no place in American law enforcement. And the rest of them? I’m sure 99.99% of America is saying a prayer of thanks they don’t live in Elyria, Ohio.