A Chicago family is taking the city’s p*olice department to c*ourt after they say o*fficers r*aided the wrong home while e*xecuting a s*earch w*arrant for a d*ope-dealing s*uspect, r*uining a 4-year-old’s birthday party in the process.
The civil rights s*uit, filed in federal c*ourt Tuesday, a*ccuses at least 17 o*fficers of s*torming the family’s South Side home on Feb. 10, during which they t*oppled the toddler’s birthday cake to the floor while completely t*rashing the place, local station ABC 7 reports.
The Bures family was in the middle of celebrating Terrance Jackson Jr.’s birthday when the f*rightening r*aid occurred. The child’s mother, Stephanie Bures, and aunt Kiqiana Jackson a*ccuse o*fficers of t*errorizing party-goers, saying they p*ointed their g*uns at young Terrance and his seven-year-old sister Samari during the i*ncident.
Stephanie Bures and her sister are s*uing the city of Chicago and Chicago P*olice Department for using excessive f*orce during a r*aid at their home last month. (WGN 9 / video screenshots)
A t*earful Bures said the experience has left the children t*raumatized and that they are now distrustful of p*olice.
“I was so worried about (Samari) or her brother getting sh*ot by someone that’s supposed to protect and serve them,” she said during a press conference. “It’s t*errifying.”
What’s worse, it turns out the o*fficers’ w*arrant was for a s*uspect who hadn’t lived at that residence for five years.
“Instead of having his family sing happy birthday to him four-year-old TJ had p*olice o*fficer c*urse and i*nsult him and his family,” the family’s a*ttorney Al Hofeld added.
In their excessive f*orce c*ase against the city of Chicago and p*olice, the two women claim o*fficers b*arged into their South Side home where 15 people, including four children, were present, and yelled, “Get your f—–g hands up! ‘We’re doing a f—–g r*aid!'”
O*fficers proceeded to s*natch a door off its hinges, f*lip mattresses, and open wall panels — in addition to b*reaking the family’s big-screen TV and d*ousing little Terrance’s gifts with h*ydrogen p*eroxide, the complaint alleges. After k*nocking the boy’s chocolate birthday cake to the ground, family members said an o*fficer s*tuck a number 4 candle in its center.
“It was a c*ruel, deh*umanizing joke that m*ocked and symbolized a 4-year-old’s r*uined birthday party,” Hofeld said.
Bures and Jackson said they repeatedly asked o*fficers to see the s*earch w*arrant during the r*aid, but were denied. The women also a*ccused o*fficers of using their hoodies or other clothing to hide their badges and refused to give the family their names.
“I reached for my phone and then I was t*ackled…I was handc*uffed,” Jackson told WGN 9 of the i*ncident.
In the end, no one was a*rrested or ch*arges in the r*aid. The family’s a*ttorney added that none of the c*ontraband listed in the w*arrant was found at the residence.
The Chicago P*olice Department hasn’t yet responded to the laws*uit.
Watch more in the video below.
