police officers get search warrants that allow them to search specific Apartments but what happens when they break in the wrong apartment and start harassing innocent kids got police got police get the get get get on the [Applause] ground on your back buddy here are two crazy examples of cops breaking into the wrong house bad tip from a confidential informant busting down doors raiding homes of innocent families pointing guns at children kill cameras kill cameras officers ordered to kill their body cameras Curtis Roberts they live upstairs starting off the Chicago Police Department is under scrutiny for allegedly conducting wrongful raids by forcefully entering more than 50 homes a specific case involving officer Joseph Capello highlights the issue as he acted on a tip from a confidential en formant without conducting a thorough investigation or surveillance leading to the forced entry of a home take a look did you request the covert car uh we don't have one available to us in the patrol sometimes we don't have all the assets we need um in terms to to do extra surveillance and there's an overtime issue thing things of that nature superiors a prosecutor and a judge approved a warrant with insufficient credible information and officers unlawfully broke into the home go go police police get the ground get ground get ground get on the ground your back buddy you got anything on you no sir I got a pocket knife yes sir right here lean this way yes sir all right yes sir is that clear up there I'm here here [Applause] I I what's going on I thought it was for maybe the people up there the people down here when you came like there with the flashlight I called my husband I didn't know what the hell was going on all right yeah however there's another problem officer Capello who was responsible for all this was demanded to wear a body camera but he didn't you were never disciplined for not wearing your body camera that day correct that's correct okay I wasn't punished in any way I wasn't no reprimand or anything like that did anybody talk to you about the investigation that you did um no luckily the other two officers Officer Guzman and officer Hernandez had a body camera on it was almost 1:00 a.m. as they found out that the apartment they just broke into wasn't the right one he gave us he gave us the wrong [ __ ] apartment he gave us the wrong apartment he gave us the wrong apartment he said up the stairs and it's the first door right there remember the pictures I gave think I was going to I'm saying upstairs based on the windows in the picture despite having no legal basis to be inside the apartment the officers keep searching hoping to find something that justifies their actions a classic thing a dirty cop would do did continue to do a search but it wasn't like um like a systematic search where I was lifting things up and throwing things around and I was kind of just doing a surface search I wasn't really doing a search search of this residence up dude you throw a party for me no it's not you sign off huh signed off on despite department rules Miss Mendes the apartment's owner hadn't received the warrant despite the officers being in the wrong house up there um I don't I don't know their name it's a African American couple that live upstairs how did this ever happen me and my husband have never you're going to get a copy of sech warant okay I don't understand like our door getting kicked in and all this kind of stuff we've never been in trouble with the law I don't I can tell you you're not the person we're looking shortly after she notices a warrant on the table and decides to grab it to see what's going on what she founds out is shocking Curtis Roberts they live upstairs they live upstairs that's the couple upstairs he's on house arrest and all this other kind of [ __ ] with no no I'm keeping this I'm keeping this you keep it like I told you that's what it was for no Curtis Roberts lives up the information we got that he lived on the second floor okay that's all I can tell you he lives he lives up how do you know him I've seen the mail you got the paper we got wrong information no that's okay okay when the officers finally left the Mendes family filed multiple lawsuit against the department and the city trying to bring an end to their unlawful break-ins 8 a.m. today uh my Law Firm filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Chicago they didn't repair the damage or replace broken items and never arrested anyone connected to the raid on the Mendes family was providing narcotics for that area and still is to this very day to the Chicago Police ever go back and hit the correct apartment the apartment where the targets actually lived no only one correct suspect was arrested in many of the raids but no one was prosecuted and it took over 5 years for Copa to recommend suspensions for officers and supervisors involved in the wrongful raid these experienced officers not rookies were responsible for violating procedural safeguards designed to protect citizens Fourth Amendment rights there's something preventing you from contacting a utility company to find out who the account holder of record for that apartment was I didn't know I was aware I was able to do that that wasn't something that you were trained on in the police academy no I was not they keep making mistakes that lead to them being questioned a lot and unless they change they'll continue facing these problems in the future judge Burns ask you any questions about your complaint for search warrant or any of the information in your complaint um no it's easy to mess around when the taxpayers pay for your salary isn't it everyone on the team was more than polite to the whole family get out the b they were treated with the utmost respect through the whole time in the search War I wasn't punished in any way I wasn't no reprimand or anything like that did anybody talk to you about the investigation that you did um no next up on the morning of March 12th 2023 a group of Law Enforcement Officers arrived at the residence of Lance Thornton a 52-year-old resident of Erie Pennsylvania before announcing their presence by knocking on the door they removed Mr Thornton's doorbell camera due to Mr Thornton's early onset dementia he did not respond promptly prompting the officers to begin forcibly entering the property however he eventually appeared at the door and began recording the interaction with the officers on his cell phone take a look at this madness going to be we're not here for you I'm being told to put my phone down I I was told I had a right to pull that is my rental car what is going not allowed inside I want to know what's going on then you tell me right now no this is my house no you're going to no that's who weing for in your house is in your house right now no there's nobody in my house wanted we're not here for anything else we're here for that okay don't all right can we go in and off to make sure he's not in there no I swey right now okay right now no I don't know I do not like your attitude and the way you came across cuz I said can I pull my I'm going to pull my phone out of my pocket and they said yes when I said I'm going to start recording you stole me to turn it off I'm going to get out every one of these because I do not know what's going on here okay a tip came in at this guy saying your house understand over over the weekend who you guys ref US Marshals epd SWAT what's epd police police okay keep going and PSP what's PSP pslv City okay I'm shaking right now right now if this is true what you're telling me yes i' give you full permission full running my house you know this guy sir I already answered that question asked an answer but here's they know there's a reason why this call this tip was called into the marshals there's a connection between you and this guy it might not be directly okay do you have a girlfriend just hear out just my wife is a ER doctor who's your who's your wife is there another girl that woman that stays here girl no nobody else no okay who my daughter okay where do she stay at she lives in Washington DC this is my daughter we you don't know okay again this is a tip that's called into from from to us Marshalls and PSP hotline okay saying that this guy is staying here as your house right now go inside guys go inside well we will second we don't more than just two guys but so why we're here the show for we are who's fixing my door cuz you broke it the way you kicked it stop no I saw the inside the door yes whoever was kicking that door when I was coming downstairs peacefully you had to hear my feet coming someone's paying for this so go ahead do do your thing fine do your job cuz you have me so scared right now and so mad I appreciate that do you guys have a a warrant by the way no do you have a warrant for my house I'm just asking so I know you do have us consent I'm giving you consent but I can withraw it at any time right cuz I'm scared right now the officers claimed they had the right to enter Mr Thornton's home based on his consent even though he had dementia typically entering a private residence without a warrant is seen as unjustified unless there's an urgent need when assessing consent courts usually consider the officer's perception and although the officer's belief might be seen as reasonable Mr Thornton's dementia and his expressed fear could still influence the final decision although this is less likely due to the lenient standards for evaluating consent ambulances a SWAT truck lots of cars and a rud officer what's the relationship with my daughter I'll explain why this is this is total transparency because I've just G you permission to walk into my house I can I can withdraw it right now so you tell me now where I withraw I'm going to draw this consent sir get out of my house I'm withdrawn consent I am with drawn consent do you now hear it you're on camera they're still moving forward they're still going in I I withdrew my consent you guys even knew I could do it they're still searching I already told them out you can't go back and forth saying you let us in you don't let us I said can I withraw a consent and you said yes on camera yes you can yes and I did I not just rraw so here's I'm telling you what's going on right now they're doing an illegal search in my house I have Alzheimer's I DeMent right now and I'm really scared Well's reason scared I told him to stop the consent until I got the truth and you already told him and is still searching my house I have enough security cameras into their on scare they heard me withraw consent and they're still continuing in there after I with it Mr Thornton claims officers conducted an illegal search by continuing after he withdrew consent likely violating the Fourth Amendment cuz I want the truth I got I told you the truth what what do you mean I'm not telling you the let me let me finish and I apologize I'm getting frustrated I'm standing out here in the cold in pajamas I said can I I'm going reach in my pocket I'm going to grab my phone yes and I was told yes and then I said I'm going to start recording and then I started hearing officers tell me no put the phone away I'm not allowed to record I have all this going on and then they still continue to go through their after known right now they're doing illegal search here's the thing I radioed to them to tell them to stop I stood right here they stared at me when I told them I would draw so right now my my fourth amendment is being violated this has like I told you this has to do with a wanted person we received a tip through crime stalkers regard okay and the tip said that that person was at your residence from this weekend the officers used an anonymous tip as the reason to search Mr Thornton's home but it's probable that a court would consider this tip insufficient to justify prob cause or Reasonable Suspicion especially since a judge had previously denied a warrant due to the same lack of probable cause right now there's an illegal search going on in my house that's what I care about cuz I wanted them out I totally respect your position I totally respect what you're doing I know you guys are scared you got have somebody wanted but I do not understand the show force and the aggressiveness towards me cuz this is my home I gave you my metal condition and you guys still are doing this see and they're upstairs now you said they're on their way out following the search of Mr Thornton's home without finding the suspect the officers departed leaving the front door unable to be securely closed or locked and causing damage to his doorbell camera Mr Thornton's request for the body camera footage related to the incident was denied and he believes this denial may have played a role in a subsequent stroke he experienced