Wrong-house raid brings reprimands
Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, December 10, 2003
OKANOGAN — Four officers have been disciplined in the wake of a raid in which police broke down the door to the wrong home and then jolted a man with a stun gun.
Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers refused to release the names of the disciplined officers: two deputies, a sergeant and a Colville Tribal Police detective.
Undersheriff Joe Somday, who investigated the incident, cited a state law that protects a person’s right to privacy. A lawyer representing The Wenatchee World has written a letter challenging the department’s withholding of public records.
Somday said two deputies who planned the execution of the "no knock" search warrant received letters of reprimand and a sheriff’s sergeant was given an oral reprimand for failing to promptly replace a broken door at the home after the incident on Sept. 11.
A Colville Tribal Police detective who received the search warrant also was disciplined, Tribal Police Chief Rory Gilliland said. The police chief declined to comment further, saying it was a personnel matter.
A sheriff’s office investigation found officers did not use basic investigating skills when planning the raid at the home near Omak, and that the affidavit for a search warrant was flawed.
The investigation found the affidavit did a poor job of describing the trailer and incorrectly stated that landlords had confirmed a suspect lived in the trailer.
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