Ohio Mother Demands Investigation After Mistaken Police Raid Injures Son
An Ohio mother is demanding an investigation because, she says, a mistaken police raid caught on a doorbell camera injured her little boy.
Dozens of police officers targeted her aunt's home in a Cleveland suburb last Wednesday. The woman said a flash-bang explosion blew out a window right next to her son, who was on a ventilator at the time.
Police say the search was appropriate, and they dispute the woman's story.
The Elyria Police Special Response Team said it was executing a search warrant for a minor connected to a burglary. Ring video captured the raid as the police broke down the front door.
Courtney Price said police broke a window and deployed a flash-bang near her 17-month-old son, Waylon, who was already on a ventilator.
"All I seen was lights flashing and smoke coming into the house," Price said. "I didn't know what to do because there was guns pointed at me. I wanted to run to him, but I knew if I ran to him ... they could've shot."
Moments later, Price was taken outside and handcuffed. "I kept screaming, 'My baby, my baby is on a ventilator. My baby's in here.'"
Child Hospitalized After Alleged Police Raid on Wrong House
A child named Waylon was hospitalized with burns to his body and covered in glass and smoke, according to a statement by his guardian, Price. Price claims that Waylon's diagnosis is chemical pneumonitis from the chemicals used in a flash-bang device.
However, the Elyria Police have denied these allegations, stating that Waylon did not sustain any visible injuries at the scene and that there is no evidence to suggest he was exposed to chemical agents.
The incident occurred at a home rented by Price's aunt, Redia Jennings. Jennings has reported that the police have mistakenly searched the property multiple times for a suspect who does not live there. She expressed feeling unsafe and stated, "All of our furniture was broke. It's now stained. They just walked all over everything."
The family plans to take legal action against the police department. The city's mayor has expressed deep concern and is currently reviewing bodycam footage. The footage will be released to the public as part of an ongoing investigation into the conduct of the police department.
Source: Cleveland 19 News
