TheAgitator.com
Raid Roundup
Monday, March 19th, 2007“I asked the officers why they did this, and they said they got a tip that there were guns in the house,” said Betty Granger, 60. “I told them that if they had just asked us, if they had just knocked on the door and asked, I would have let them search the house.”No weapons were found during the Sunday raid at their home in the 400 block of Ann Street, she said. Authorities said they were looking for a suspect who was believed armed.
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Shortly after 7 a.m., the Grangers said they were jarred from their sleep by what sounded like an explosion as police tossed smoke bombs through the basement windows. Other explosions followed as officers burst through the doors.
Frank Granger said he sprang from his bed, peered out of the window and saw a masked man dressed in fatigues pointing a gun at him.
“I thought someone was breaking into the house to kill us,” said Frank Granger, 62.
He ran down the hallway and into the living room, where he said he encountered 15 to 20 armed men. Still not aware they were police officers, Granger said he ran back into the bedroom and shut the door.
Officers kicked it in and leveled guns at him and his wife, he said. For the next two hours, the Grangers, an adult son and three teenage grandsons sat handcuffed while their home was searched, Frank Granger said. The couple said the police found nothing.
The Grangers said the house they lived in for 35 years was left in shambles. A grandson had to nail the back door closed, and until workers arrived, the front door was propped shut with a chair.
Deputy Police Chief Robert Beeter stopped by the house and told the couple he was sorry for what happened, Betty Granger said.
“I’m always sorry when people are frustrated or upset with the Elgin Police Department,” Police Chief Lisa Womack said at the news conference.
Swoboda said it would have been normal procedure in such a raid to use as many as 15 officers.
