ifti
The mayor of Elyria, Ohio, has ordered an investigation after a woman claimed that police who raided her home used the wrong address and deployed flash-bang grenades, sending her one-year-old child to the hospital with burns.
Police gave conflicting accounts of what happened on January 10 and said in a statement on Friday that they had executed a search warrant at the correct address and that the child “did not suffer any apparent harm.”
Courtney Price said the audio from her Ring camera proved them wrong. In a video shared exclusively with NBC News on Tuesday, someone can be heard saying “this is the wrong house.” It’s unclear who said this because after police deployed the flash device, the camera fell to the ground and went dark.
Elyria Mayor Kevin A. Brubaker called the incident “serious and disturbing” and announced Saturday a “comprehensive review of the incident.” Body camera footage of the incident will be released later Tuesday, he said.
raid
As part of a criminal investigation, the Elyria Police Department obtained a court-authorized search warrant to search a residence in the 300 block of Parmelee Avenue, police said in a news release Friday.
The arrest warrant was executed at 2:12 p.m.
The Elyria Police Special Response Team deployed two diversion devices known as “flash-bang grenades” outside the home, made multiple announcements and entered the home to find a woman and her 17-month-old child inside.
Price, a single mother who had moved to Elyria from Kentucky just a week before the raid, was at home with her child, Waylon.
Price said that at 2:12 p.m., she heard “the loudest knocking I’ve ever heard in my life” and started walking toward the door. Less than 15 seconds later, as she walked downstairs, police broke in, detonated flash-bang grenades, and pointed their guns at her.
“I froze at the top of the steps. I kept saying, ‘I’m scared. My kids are here and he’s on a respirator.’ And then I walked down the steps and they put handcuffs on me,” she told NBC on Tuesday news.
She recalled standing on the steps and seeing a flash of light in the window and smoke coming out.
Waylon, who was born prematurely and has pulmonary hypertension, a very serious lung disease, and an atrial septal defect (a hole in his heart), was lying on the floor on a swing outside the window. Price said glass fell on him as the window was blown out.
She said they took her outside and then brought her back in to check on the child. Elyria police said in a statement that the woman told police her child had a pre-existing medical condition and that detectives and paramedics evaluated the child and “confirmed that the child did not suffer any visible injuries.”
“That’s when a paramedic came down and listened to Waylon and said, ‘That sounds clear.’ And they took us to the hospital,” she said.
Price and Waylon were sent home after the hospital said the baby’s condition was “not related to the raid.”
But early the next morning, Price said Waylon “stopped breathing.” She adjusted his ventilator, but his condition still didn’t improve, and she had to call 911. They were taken to the hospital and transferred to UH Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital.
“Then at Rainbow Babies, we were told he needed another six liters of oxygen and his ventilator needed to be turned on… He had chemical pneumonitis, which is inflammation of the lungs and irritation of the lungs, and he had a chemical reaction , in and around his eyes,” Price said.
In an online fundraiser to support Waylon’s medical expenses, Price wrote: “The negligence of the Elyria Police Department resulted in my child suffering burns to his eyes, burns to his chest, burns to his arms, and burns to his neck.”
As of Tuesday, Waylon’s condition was improving, but the ordeal left her heartbroken.
“We moved here for a new start. A lot of my family is here, I just had a baby and I’m a single mom,” she explained. “My son has worked hard his entire life to get to where he is now, but has suffered additional trauma and setbacks that have no excuse.”
However, Illyria police insist the child was not injured during the operation.
“Any allegation of exposure to chemical agents, lack of medical care or neglect of the child is untrue,” police said.
The department noted that the two flash-bang grenades were deployed outside the home and that such devices do not produce a sustained combustion and do not release or contain any pepper gas or chemical agents.
Price accused the Elyria Police Department of negligence and poor detective work.
wrong address
Price said the search warrant was for the Parmelee Avenue residence but was issued to a person who had not lived there in more than a year. He shared a search warrant police had left at the residence.
“When we were put into the ambulance, [the police] We are still here. As I was leaving, another family member stopped. They told them they had the wrong house,” Price said.
Price said she learned police had visited the house at least five times in the past year. “The landlord also said [police] She has a new tenant,” she said.
Price shared video of the raid captured on her doorbell camera.
The video shows about a dozen officers in SWAT gear approaching the house, knocking on the door and shouting: “Police, search warrant, open the door!”
About six seconds after the first knock, police broke in.Meanwhile, the camera appeared to break and went black at 2:12 p.m.
However, it is still recording audio.
At 3 p.m., Ring cameras recorded several voices that appeared to be police. Then a man’s voice said, “Wow, wrong house.”
NBC News reached out to Elyria police Tuesday for comment on the film and the allegations that are the subject of the search warrant but have not yet received a response.
Investigation is ongoing
The mayor’s office said the city has been reviewing body camera footage from the weekend operations.
“Our residents are demanding to know what happened, and rightfully so,” Brubaker said in a statement Monday. “Thankfully, our city had the ability to have the many body-worn cameras that recorded the incident in real-time throughout its entirety.” technology. I am especially grateful for the clear audio and video captured by these cameras from multiple angles. I am eager to release this video for everyone to see.”
