Post by KC on Jul 2, 2006 22:36:32 GMT -5
July 02, 2006 - FORT WORTH -- While publicly apologizing to the occupant of a house raided by Fort Worth police officers Wednesday, a police spokesman said Friday that the department is investigating why the wrong house was targeted.
An informant's tip that led officers to Steven Blackman's house should have been corroborated before the search warrant was sought, Lt. Dean Sullivan said.
"We made a mistake," Sullivan said at a Friday afternoon news conference.
SWAT officers stormed Blackman's house in the 3600 block of Rufus Street while looking for Howard Earl Taylor, 27, who is wanted in a recent crackdown on gangs and drugs in southeast Fort Worth.
Officers shot tear gas through the windows and broke down a back door. The house was empty, and there were no signs of drug activity.
Blackman, who was at work when the raid occurred, said that despite the apology, he is frustrated.
"They're not communicating with me," said Blackman, 46. "I still have a lot of things I need to get fixed."
According to an affidavit for a search warrant, a patrol officer met with a "reliable confidential informant" who said drug activity was occurring in the house.
The informant has on numerous occasions given officers information that has proved correct, the affidavit says.
The informant "specifically pointed out" the location for the patrol officer and said he saw Taylor selling crack cocaine in the house on a recent visit, the affidavit states.
Officer J.T. Broadwater, identified in the affidavit as assigned to the FBI Violent Crime Task Force, wrote in the affidavit that "the location appeared exactly as the patrol officer and the informant described it."
The affidavit lists Blackman's address and describes it as a single-story house "with a gray composition roof, brown wood trim, white wood siding, a black burglary bar attached to the front door and black burglar bars attached to the front window."
It notes that no visible numbers are on the house.
Blackman said that is an accurate description of his home.
A magistrate signed the warrant Wednesday morning, according to the Tarrant County clerk.
Sullivan said an investigation after the raid has found no evidence that Taylor was ever inside Blackman's house.
He said that because the ongoing investigation includes possible employee misconduct, he is limited in what he can discuss.
"Informants and tips -- those come in from time to time," Sullivan said. "But ... we do have some obligation to corroborate information, and procedures weren't followed; mistakes were made."
An FBI spokeswoman did not return a phone message late Friday afternoon.
Sullivan said he wasn't aware of any officers involved in the investigation being shifted to other duties.
Police are also investigating whether the informant "misidentified, misconstrued or misunderstood" the exact location he was trying to direct police to, Sullivan said.
"Some kind of miscommunication occurred," he said.
Sullivan said the department takes exception to what he called suggestions by the media that the SWAT team may have acted inappropriately when it entered Blackman's home. SWAT officers used appropriate tactics based on the information in the warrant that a potentially dangerous suspect was inside the house.
"SWAT did their job," he said. "They did not make a mistake."
The department accepts responsibility for the damage to Blackman's home, and repairs are already under way, Sullivan said.
Blackman said fans were brought to his house Thursday to air out remnants of the tear gas. He said he received a form from the city's risk management department to list the damages but hasn't filled it out yet.
"Because of the tear gas, I still can't get back in to see all the damage," he said. "So I don't know how bad everything is."
Blackman said that a police commander apologized to him Friday morning and that the city is paying for his hotel room. But he said he hasn't been able to return to his job remodeling houses because many of his supplies are at home.
"My life has been thrown in an upheaval," he said. "There was just no reason to for this to happen. I'm just a hardworking man."
"My life has been thrown in an upheaval. There was just no reason to for this to happen. I'm just a hardworking man."
Alex Branch
www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/14947301.htm
An informant's tip that led officers to Steven Blackman's house should have been corroborated before the search warrant was sought, Lt. Dean Sullivan said.
"We made a mistake," Sullivan said at a Friday afternoon news conference.
SWAT officers stormed Blackman's house in the 3600 block of Rufus Street while looking for Howard Earl Taylor, 27, who is wanted in a recent crackdown on gangs and drugs in southeast Fort Worth.
Officers shot tear gas through the windows and broke down a back door. The house was empty, and there were no signs of drug activity.
Blackman, who was at work when the raid occurred, said that despite the apology, he is frustrated.
"They're not communicating with me," said Blackman, 46. "I still have a lot of things I need to get fixed."
According to an affidavit for a search warrant, a patrol officer met with a "reliable confidential informant" who said drug activity was occurring in the house.
The informant has on numerous occasions given officers information that has proved correct, the affidavit says.
The informant "specifically pointed out" the location for the patrol officer and said he saw Taylor selling crack cocaine in the house on a recent visit, the affidavit states.
Officer J.T. Broadwater, identified in the affidavit as assigned to the FBI Violent Crime Task Force, wrote in the affidavit that "the location appeared exactly as the patrol officer and the informant described it."
The affidavit lists Blackman's address and describes it as a single-story house "with a gray composition roof, brown wood trim, white wood siding, a black burglary bar attached to the front door and black burglar bars attached to the front window."
It notes that no visible numbers are on the house.
Blackman said that is an accurate description of his home.
A magistrate signed the warrant Wednesday morning, according to the Tarrant County clerk.
Sullivan said an investigation after the raid has found no evidence that Taylor was ever inside Blackman's house.
He said that because the ongoing investigation includes possible employee misconduct, he is limited in what he can discuss.
"Informants and tips -- those come in from time to time," Sullivan said. "But ... we do have some obligation to corroborate information, and procedures weren't followed; mistakes were made."
An FBI spokeswoman did not return a phone message late Friday afternoon.
Sullivan said he wasn't aware of any officers involved in the investigation being shifted to other duties.
Police are also investigating whether the informant "misidentified, misconstrued or misunderstood" the exact location he was trying to direct police to, Sullivan said.
"Some kind of miscommunication occurred," he said.
Sullivan said the department takes exception to what he called suggestions by the media that the SWAT team may have acted inappropriately when it entered Blackman's home. SWAT officers used appropriate tactics based on the information in the warrant that a potentially dangerous suspect was inside the house.
"SWAT did their job," he said. "They did not make a mistake."
The department accepts responsibility for the damage to Blackman's home, and repairs are already under way, Sullivan said.
Blackman said fans were brought to his house Thursday to air out remnants of the tear gas. He said he received a form from the city's risk management department to list the damages but hasn't filled it out yet.
"Because of the tear gas, I still can't get back in to see all the damage," he said. "So I don't know how bad everything is."
Blackman said that a police commander apologized to him Friday morning and that the city is paying for his hotel room. But he said he hasn't been able to return to his job remodeling houses because many of his supplies are at home.
"My life has been thrown in an upheaval," he said. "There was just no reason to for this to happen. I'm just a hardworking man."
"My life has been thrown in an upheaval. There was just no reason to for this to happen. I'm just a hardworking man."
Alex Branch
www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/14947301.htm
