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Swat stormed wrong Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=180&xlc=873972http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=180&xlc=873972
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.
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.
jbogan@express-news.net
News Researcher Julie Domel contributed to this report.
11/22/2002
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