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Thursday, December 11, 2008
Oops, wrong door
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
John Louis, his girlfriend and 3-month-old daughter were in their Lawrenceville home Wednesday night when the front door came tumbling down. In rushed Gwinnett County police drug investigators.
The officers were looking for a meth dealer, a suspect they’d had under surveillance. But Wednesday night, somehow, they broke through the wrong door at the wrong address.
Mistakes — they happen in any and every line of work. Police officers are not immune, but you have to wonder what, exactly, led to this faux pax by dedicated officers operating under a “no-knock” warrant.
Maybe some procedural change will be put in place to ensure the officers are at the right address, pursuing the proper suspects.
It’s an unfortunate incident for the officers, who have apologized profusely. The department has taken full responsibility for the incident. And it was a horrific experience for James, his girlfriend Heather James and their child.
In the end, though, the good guys snagged the bad guy: Efrain Pedruza, 31, was arrested that same night without incident; $24,000 in cash was seized. Pedruza is being held on related charges in Gwinnett County Jail.
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