http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=180&xlc=873972

This one's a hoot. Love the way that after they realized they had the wrong house they went to the RIGHT house...and knocked on the door. I guess the danger diminished after the mistake raid because, um...uh.

Right. More like they knew they were in trouble and decided not to play anymore.

I also like that these obviously innocent men must have "resisted", because they got black eyes and chipped teeth. Uh huh.

Am I the only one disturbed by the trend that seems to be building, namely, if you are known to have firearms, you're getting a no-knock warrant if they need to speak to you? Not that I think it happens to non criminals regularly...Not yet, at least.


SAPD to probe storming of wrong house  
 
By Jesse Bogan and Elaine Aradillas  
Express-News Staff Writers  
 
Web Posted : 11/22/2002 12:00 AM  
 
San Antonio police, who continued to apologize Thursday for storming the wrong Southwest Side duplex, said they'll meet next week to review the foul-up that sent an innocent man to a hospital with minor injuries.

A police raid Wednesday night left a charred wall in the home of Marcos and Salvador Huerta. The raid was on the wrong house.
Kin Man Hui/Express-News

Cousins Salvador Huerta (left) and Marcos Huerta said they were injured when police stormed into their house Wednesday night by mistake. The two were recovering Thursday at home.

Officials said SWAT team members apparently were confused in the darkness Wednesday night by the cluster of look-alike dwellings in the 5900 block of Fairshire Road, even though officers spent two days watching a duplex there in an effort to serve a warrant on a man they suspected of dealing drugs.

"Everything was done by procedure," Deputy Police Chief Rudy Gonzales said of the SWAT unit that won state honors the past two years. "It was just an honest mistake made by SWAT officers at the location."

He said that if any recommendations resulted from his review, they would be forwarded to Chief Albert Ortiz.

The officers who mistakenly crashed through a rear sliding glass door will remain on duty while the incident is reviewed, he said.

Ortiz couldn't be reached for comment.

Mayor Ed Garza said Thursday that he hadn't spoken with Ortiz about the mix-up, but that he had asked for a full report.

"I am not ready to make any comments until I've seen the official report," he said.

It began about 8 p.m. Wednesday when a team of SWAT officers stormed through a glass door at a home on Fairshire Road without warning, said the three cousins who live there.

The cousins said officers shot out the door with soft bullets and threw in a concussion grenade that left a hole and a black scar on the wall.

The men, who work at a Mexican restaurant, said they were watching television when the officers stomped in, flinging punches, kicks and profanities. The cousins said they thought they were being robbed.

Marcos Huerta, 19, was taken to a hospital where doctors stitched a wound above a puffy eye. Salvador Huerta, 20, was left with a chipped front tooth and a bruised face. Both said they fell to the floor without resistance and covered their heads as officers hit them at least 20 times.

The third cousin, Vicente Huerta, 17, fled out the front door and was not harmed. An uncle, Jose Luis Alvarez, 40, said his nephews planned to contact an attorney.

"I think they should have investigated before they came in," he said in Spanish. "With pleasure, people are welcome to the house. Just knock on the door."

Not until after the Huerta cousins were handcuffed and sat down on the sofa did police realize that they had goofed.

Gonzales said the confusion occurred because in the dark alley, the duplexes all looked the same. He said SWAT officers were told to enter from the alley and to look for a red car in the rear driveway.

"The SWAT officer saw the red car and thought that was the residence where the warrant was to be served," Gonzales said.

Later, after the scuffle, Officer Darron Lyn Phillips and other officers went to the correct address two doors down, knocked on the door and arrested the suspect without incident.

When asked why officers hadn't knocked in the first place, Gonzales said police thought the suspect inside the house might have a gun tucked inside his waistband.

He said the element of surprise dissipated after people heard the commotion and began filling the street.

Police arrested Richard Anguiano, 21, of the 200 block of Refugio. He was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to deliver and possession of marijuana. He was being held in Bexar County Jail in lieu of posting $52,000 bond.

Inside the second duplex on Fairshire Road, police said they found 86 grams of marijuana, 40 grams of cocaine, drug paraphernalia, and several rounds of ammunition.

No weapons were found.

Will Harrell, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said mistakes like this one are not uncommon. He said they are generally the result of an increased militarization by police.

"For the past decade or more, we've seen a shift from the notion of community-oriented police models to a militarized model, where the police operate with a siege mentality," he said.

[email protected]

News Researcher Julie Domel contributed to this report.

 
11/22/2002  

Feed, you're 100% right, but what it proves to me is that they didn't NEED to knock down the druggie's door even if they HAD gotten it right out of the box. If this guy was so damned dangerous they would have done no knock just like they did to the poor restaurant guys. Obviously, he wasn't, because knowing they were already in deep shit they throttled back and made a peaceful arrest.

I think they probably screwed themselves. They're going to be going on and on at the review about how dangerous it is, and that's why they need to be fast and rough, and sure, maybe the busboy got roughed up a bit, but it's for safety, we thought it was this bad dude next door, blah blah blah.

And then someone's going to say, "and what did you do when you got your shit together and went after the bad dude?"

"We um, knocked on the....door, and ah, arrested him without incident".

They look like fools and don't have a leg to stand on.

It's happening more frequently. Too many SWAT teams with nothing to do. They get all antsy and want to play with their toys. I know there are legitimate reasons for some of these teams, but when the EPA and IRS both have MANY teams, something is WRONG!

Not that I would advocate this at all, but what would happen if someone shot what appeared to be a perpatrator of a home invasion? Seriously, what would happen if you shot one of these guys? Granted one would have to survive which is very fucking unlikely. Provided the home owner survived what would happen to him? I would think it would be a simple case of of self defense but how would LEOs/DA look at it?

[beer]

They would get killed by the pigs on the spot. And the pigs doing the killing would be given little more than a paid vacation slap on the wrist because what they did would be ruled a "good shoot" done in self defense.

[url]http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=155735&w=myTopicPop[/url]


In this case they got the right house, but had bad intel just the same....

Are all cops "pigs" or just these cops?  What exactly makes a cop a "pig" anyway?

nope, just ones who abuse and kill people without facing any conseqences

as for what makes a cop a pig, who knows, not sure where referring to a cop as a "pig" comes from. i figured i'd toss in a little variety, can't be using "jack booted thug" all of the time

See that's what I've been talking about. I swear just about all the SAPD officers around here have a problem. They're all pissed off with attitudes, seems like. Hell I get pulled over by a state trooper or the sherif and they're nice and polite when they apporach you and sometime have a conversation with them while they write my ticket or give me a warning. But SAPD man... "are you giving me attitude son?" Just cause I'm refering to him as "Sir". "Don't back talk me." I'm like shit dude what's your problem. I know not all of them are like this. But the majority I've seen are. Just bugs me.

I've always thought about what HighlandMac is talking about. As many of us carry around our house and some SOB comes charging in your house, I would think to defend myself. And I'd be killed for there mistake. Shit really pisses me off.