An Indiana woman is suing the city and other officials alleging that a SWAT team had wrongly raided her home causing $16,000 in damages.
Homeowner Amy Hadley filed a lawsuit Dec. 15 against the city of South Bend, Indiana along with other authority departments, seeking compensation for the “destruction of her private property for public use,” according to the lawsuit. Hadley’s attorney, Marie Miller stated in a recent press release that the homeowner had not only done “nothing wrong,” but claimed that the “public as a whole” must pay the cost for law enforcement’s alleged actions. (RELATED: Seattle Homeowners, Criminal And SWAT Team Involved In Tense Standoff)
“Amy did nothing wrong to invite the destruction that government officials deliberately inflicted on her property,” Miller stated. “The public as a whole, not Amy alone, must pay for the cost of that law enforcement action.”
The lawsuit claims that on June 10, 2022 law enforcement officers from both the City of South Bend Police Department and St. Joseph County Police Department had surrounded her home. Authorities allegedly had mistaken her home as the “location where a fugitive was active on social media,” the lawsuit stated.
A St. Joseph County officer had allegedly tried to track what he had allegedly believed to be the fugitive’s Facebook account, leading them to an IP address possibly associated with Hadley’s home, according to Law&Crime. Police had then received a warrant to search the house for the suspected fugitive.
At the time of the incident, Hadley’s 15-year-old son was the only person inside the house and was told by authorities to exit the home with his “hands up.” While Hadley’s son had followed instructions from authorities, the lawsuit claims that officers had “immediately” known the boy was not the fugitive they were looking for. However, they allegedly placed him in handcuffs and transported him to a police station anyway, the lawsuit stated. (RELATED: REPORT: Nashville SWAT Team Officer Kills Grammy Winner As He Allegedly Held His Wife, Daughter Hostage)
Authorities allegedly continued to raid the home, launching “dozens of tear gas grenades,” destroying home security cameras, shattering windows, and punching “holes in walls” among the damages, the lawsuit stated. Hadley claims that not only was her home allegedly destroyed by authorities, but her personal belongings such as family photos, childhood drawings, clothes, and electronics were also damaged.
It wasn’t until later that Hadley and her daughter arrived down the street from their home to find the authorities still there. Hadley allegedly told officials that not only had she “never seen or heard” of the suspected fugitive they were looking for, but that the home had security cameras which would have alerted them that a “stranger” was there.
Due to the tear gas, Hadley additionally claimed that she and her son had slept in “her car until the fumes dissipated enough to breathe inside the home.”
Hadley had previously attempted to reach out to local government regarding the damages to her home, however, only South Bend had responded but declined to acknowledge her claims instructing her to complete a form under the Indiana Tort Claims Act, Law&Crime reported. While the Indiana homeowner tried again to tell the city that her claims had already fallen under state and federal constitutions, the city never responded, the outlet reported.
“The raid turned our lives and our home upside down,” Hadley stated in a press release. “The police clearly made a huge mistake, but there has never been an apology for the way we were treated or an offer to cover the damage. If one of the agencies won’t take responsibility, I hope the court will make them.”