A 69-year-old Fort Worth, Texas, woman is accusing police officers of excessive force and unlawfully searching her and her husband’s home during a narcotics raid.
Nelda Price said she and her now-late husband, John Price, had just finished eating dinner in their kitchen when at around 8 p.m. on March 11 officers “smashed in the doors to the residence and stormed into the house with guns drawn,” according to a lawsuit obtained by NBC News.
The suit, filed in a Tarrant County court against the city of Fort Worth, alleges that officers gave no verbal warning and did not knock before forcing their way into the home.
Calls and emails Wednesday to the Fort Worth Police Department and city spokesperson were not returned.
The Prices, who are Black, had guns pointed at them, had their hands zip-cuffed behind their backs and were taken outside to their front yard, according to the suit.
“The Fort Worth Police had no reason to suspect that Prices, who were relaxing in their home on a weekday evening, were involved in or engaged in any criminal activity, or posed any threat to the safety of the Fort Worth Police Officers or any other individual,” the lawsuit states.
Some of the officers “guarded” the couple outside while others ransacked the home, according to the lawsuit.
When Nelda Price asked police why the home was being raided, the couple was instead questioned about having aliases and if “a Mexican boy brought a package to their home,” the suit says.
“Mr. and Mrs. Price confirmed they did not have any aliases and no Mexican boy brought a package to their home to keep,” it states.
Nelda Price, wearing a nightgown, and John Price, in his pajamas, were left cuffed outside for several hours. At one point, John Price — who took blood pressure medication — started to feel ill. Nelda Price asked officers for help numerous times but was ignored, according to the lawsuit.
Eventually, an officer checked John Price’s blood pressure and called for emergency medical help. The 69-year-old was treated at the scene.
The suit says that there was no reason the couple should have been suspected of a crime and that officers did not tell them why they were forced from their home.
When they were allowed back inside, a search warrant had been left on a table that showed officers were looking for methamphetamines, narcotics trafficking and anything pertaining to narcotics trafficking organizations, the suit states.
A copy of the warrant, which was provided to NBC News by the legal team representing Nelda Price, showed that no items were seized during the search.
It also states that there was “sufficient reason to believe that to knock and announce their purpose by the officers executing this warrant would be futile, dangerous, and otherwise inhibit the effective investigation of the offense or offenses related to the purpose of this warrant.”
According to the suit, officers caused substantial damage to the home and the couple suffered mental and physical anguish over the ordeal.
It says that police unlawfully detained the Prices and accuses the department of having a “history of racial profiling and biased based on policing,” noting several police brutality cases involving Fort Worth officers including the 2019 death of Atatiana Jefferson, a Black woman shot and killed in her home.
John Price died from heart failure in May, about five weeks after the incident, a spokesperson for his wife’s lawyer said Wednesday. Nelda Price believes that his death was triggered by the trauma from what happened, the spokesperson said.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
