A SWAT Team Tore Down This Woman’s Home and Left Her With a $50,000 Bill
BY Herschel Smith
3 years, 8 months ago
Vicki Baker had an unusual plea for police officers in McKinney, Texas, when she learned an armed fugitive had holed up in her home: Do not destroy the property.
It didn’t work. During an hourslong standoff with the man and a 15-year-old girl inside, SWAT officers shot approximately 30 tear gas canisters into Baker’s property, blew up her garage door, and drove an armored vehicle over her fence.
The teenager got out of the house, but by the time cops stormed the property, the fugitive had killed himself in Baker’s bedroom. Baker’s belongings, some of them irreplaceable, were ruined by tear gas. Even her daughter’s dog, which came running out of the home during the standoff, ended up nearly blind and completely deaf.
Hey, the cops went home safe that night and the dog was nearly blind and deaf. To boot, the woman was left with a bill. The only thing better would have been if a cop had been able to shoot a dog.
You’re never in more danger than when the cops are around.
On March 10, 2021 at 1:58 am, 21stCenturyCassandra said:
Headline is somewhat misleading. The city didn’t bill the homeowner, they refused to pay for damages and left her on the hook. Her insurance refused to pay for damages. The Institute for Justice is assisting her in suing the city for the unwarranted damage to her property.
They accurately point out that the damage to the home is an unconstitutional taking, and the government agency is required by the US and Texas constitution to pay just compensation.
https://ij.org/case/texas-swat-destruction/
On March 10, 2021 at 8:22 am, Nosmo said:
All of which serves to point out the necessity of adequately defending one’s property, in addition to one’s life and family – had this woman possessed the necessary resources – material, physical, psychological, emotional – to adequately defend her property against unlawful possession by a criminal she might have had to spend money on an attorney to defend herself against illegitimate action by a prosecutor for killing someone in her doorway or kitchen, but she, her daughter and the dog would be able to live in her house while doing so.
On March 10, 2021 at 10:12 am, George 1 said:
To make matters worse the courts have mostly ruled that political jurisdictions are not responsible for this type of damage. The woman is most likely going to loose her case. I wonder if insurance for this sort of thing is even available.
On March 10, 2021 at 10:15 am, Chris Mallory said:
The hostage had been released/escaped. The bad guy was not shooting at anyone. So instead of turning off water and power and sitting on the house, the cops decided that destroying it was a better option. The cops are getting paid no matter if they are surrounding a fugitive or sitting in some alley watching porn on their phones. No reason at all why this happened other than a gang of government employees wanting to play with their toys.
On March 10, 2021 at 10:42 am, Michael (from Utah) said:
@Chris Mallory –
They like the adrenaline rush they get from blowing other people’s stuff up.
On March 10, 2021 at 7:42 pm, Ned said:
I saw a meme about the election fraud that went something like this:
“We already know the election was stolen and elected officials corrupt. We just petitioned the courts to see how corrupt the courts are.”
That question has surely been answered many times.