Chicago police raid the wrong home again — and end up pointing guns at children during little boy’s birthday party



Chicago police officers raided a 4-year-old child's birthday party by mistake, drawing weapons on the partygoers and screaming profanities at them.

The little boy's family is speaking out about the incident, which they said was traumatic.

What are the details?


According to WBBM-TV, the incident took place in February during the boy's birthday party.

During a recent interview with the outlet, the little boy's 7-year-old sister, Samari Boswell, revealed how police officers stormed their residence and pointed their weapons at those inside.

"They were saying F-words and stuff. It was horrible!" the young girl said. "I thought they was going to shoot me, and my brother, and everybody else."
She noted that she and her fellow guests were playing "Duck, Duck, Goose" just before the police entered the home.

The station obtained footage showing at least 17 Chicago Police Department officers storming the home armed with guns, a battering ram, and a sledgehammer.
When the officers entered the home, the kids' aunt, Kiqiana Jackson, demanded to see a warrant. Jackson, who works for the public school district, said she must have asked "one too many times," because she ended up under arrest.

"All I heard was steps, like shoes coming down the stairs hard, and saying 'Get your f***ing hands up!'" Jackson recalled. "I asked for a search warrant, I guess one too many times, and [an officer] was like, 'Arrest her.'"

"They manhandled me," she said. "It took two officers to get the cuffs on me."
Jackson also added that the police spoke to her and her family in a very disparaging way throughout the search.

"Police officers are supposed to protect and serve, not talk to us like we're nothing, like we're beneath them," Jackson said. "And it was really hurtful, really hurtful."
The incident was apparently all for nothing, however — the police raided the home mistakenly, searching to serve a man a warrant for a drug possession charge. The man, however, was a former resident who'd moved out at least five years prior.

The police eventually turned over a warrant, but not before searching the home thoroughly. The family said that officers broke a large television during their search and made a mess across the entire dwelling.

What else?

Al Hofeld Jr., an attorney for the family, said that a simple online search could have prevented the entire ordeal.

"My law firm took 30 seconds to do a person search and came up with [the suspect's] most current address, which is on 83rd street nowhere near the property," he told WBBM.

A spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department told the station that an error did occur.

"In all cases, CPD makes every effort to ensure the validity and accuracy of all information that is used to apply for and execute search warrants," the spokesperson said. "Oftentimes this information comes from community sources and despite the vetting of material through a criminal court and the methodical process to authenticate addresses, errors can occur and we take them very seriously."

Anything else?

This is not the first time that Chicago police have come under fire for raiding the wrong home.

In June, Chicago cops stormed the home of a family with two young boys and a girl. After handcuffing the children and searching the apartment, police discovered that the residence wasn't the one they were seeking out.
As of June 2018, at least four similar incidents occurred in Chicago over a period of six months.

Prior to the June incident, officers converged on another family home in the city, leaving two children traumatized. The incident occurred minutes before the family were to sit down for dinner. Instead of breaking bread with one another, the four members of the family ended up face-down on the floor in handcuffs. Police later confirmed that officers stormed the wrong home. A further newspaper investigation into the incident noted that the warrant was riddled with incorrect information.

The list goes on and on.

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