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swat raids mayors house and kills his dogs, because someone sent him a package.

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Surrender

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Mayor will pursue lawsuit over raid


Defense attorneys requested case to be delayed until after DOJ investigation
Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009

A lawsuit filed by Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo against the Prince George's County police and sheriff departments regarding a raid of his home will be allowed to go forward concurrent with an investigation of the incident by the U.S. Department of Justice, a county Circuit Court judge ruled Friday.

Calvo's home was raided in July 2008 after a 32-pound package containing marijuana was delivered to his home. The county sheriff's department raided the home, killing Calvo's two dogs in the process. Police later said Calvo and his family were innocent victims in a drug delivery scheme in which someone was supposed to pick up the package before it was received by the family.

Attorneys for county and the sheriff's department argued the lawsuit should be delayed until the DOJ finishes its investigation so that defendants involved could avoid potential self-incrimination.

Calvo's lawsuit, which also includes his wife, Trinity Tomsic, and Tomsic's mother, Georgia Porter, was filed in June against Prince George's County Sheriff Michael Jackson; Shawn Scarlata, the lead detective in the Prince George's County Police Department's narcotics enforcement division; the state of Maryland; Prince George's County; and two "John Doe" deputy sheriffs, whose names have yet to be released to Calvo.

Calvo said he and his attorneys have been denied even basic documents related to the case since the incident.

"I don't even have a police report yet," he said Friday after the ruling. "I just want to get the facts on the table; it's been 17 months."

Circuit Court Judge Arthur M. Ahalt said any instances in which defendants may have to testify against themselves will be dealt with in the court as they arise.

"Any of the Fifth Amendment issues, if any, can be dealt with on a piecemeal basis," he said, after his ruling.

A hearing for the case could be scheduled as early as Jan. 26.
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ivan7

New member
What kind of SWAT team is afraid of a couple of labs anyway, especially one running away.
In this instance I hope these officers are prosecuted to the fullest extent. This is shameful.
 
Moneygrowonweed

Moneygrowonweed

Member
Thats some bull shit i have owned labs and they are the most none aggressive dog there is dog runs away from them 7 rounds fired if i did that i would be in jail and if i killed a police dog it's just about they same as if i killed a human cop but they can come in and do that and nothing happens. he is the fucken mayor ou big threat not like he can just disappear and what mayor is going to try to kill a cop he is a fucken politician he uses words not guns more tax payers dollars wasted for more bull shit and nothing will come of it at all just money wasted. great country
 
ItsGrowTime

ItsGrowTime

gets some
Veteran
The worst part is that if this wasn't the mayor the whole thing would have been swept under the rug as "Standard Operating Procedure". The residents would have been arrested on some bogus charges anyway and pressured to sign away their rights to sue in exchange for dropping the bogus charges. The only reason this is getting so much attention is they messed with an elected official. I'm thankful for that (not for the mayor though) at least, so this is getting attention. And if PG County residents vote that bastard as County Executive then they deserve whatever they get.
 
S

Surrender

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Prince George's moves to dismiss high-profile Calvo lawsuit

Motion: Deputies were acting professionally when they shot mayor's dogs

By Daniel Valentine | Staff Writer

Lawyers for Prince George's County are asking a judge to drop the civil lawsuit Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo filed over the shooting deaths of his two pet dogs during a mistaken drug raid at his home.

Because deputies involved in the July 29, 2008, raid were acting professionally as law-enforcement officers serving a warrant, the county should not be sued for damages for handcuffing Calvo, his wife and mother-in-law or for shooting and killing the couple's two pet Labrador retrievers, lawyers said.

"It is well-settled that law enforcement officers executing a warrant may detain individuals inside a residence while they carry out their purpose," county attorney Rajesh Kumar wrote in the motion for judgment filed last week.

The raid attracted national headlines and raised concerns about the county's law-enforcement tactics.

Deputies dressed in black with guns executed the search warrant at the Calvo home on July 29 after tracing a package filled with 32 pounds of marijuana addressed to Calvo's wife, Trinity Tomsic. Seconds after entering, deputies shot the couple's two dogs, Payton and Chase.

What authorities didn't know at the time was the package, which was delivered by an undercover detective, was actually meant for the deliveryman, who was later arrested. Though police announced days later Calvo and his wife were cleared in the investigation, county officials never apologized for the incident except to say it was "unfortunate."

In their motion, detectives and deputies wrote they felt threatened by the two dogs who were heard barking and running inside the home when a detective posing as a FedEx deliveryman knocked on the door.

According to the county, deputies were forced to shoot the dogs when Calvo's mother-in-law saw the masked deputies coming and screamed, forcing them to go through the door.

"Defendants did not seek out to ‘execute' [Calvo's] dogs ... rather, the record is to the contrary," Kumar wrote. "The [team] had a plan in place to mace the dogs should they become aggressive or request that the homeowners place them in a room."

But when deputies were forced to enter without knocking, they were justified in shooting the animals, Kumar wrote.

"The fourth amendment does not require the deputies to have waited until Payton and Chase attacked them, even if their belief was mistaken, to confirm that a serious threat of harm existed," the motion states.

Reached Tuesday, Calvo said his attorneys are preparing a response to the motion, but he said he still believes the county failed to investigate enough before going into his house.

"They continue to stand by the notion that what happened in my house was a model incident [of law enforcement]," he said. "They've refused to acknowledge their mistake and refused to take steps to make sure that innocent people don't get caught up in these paramilitary operations."

Calvo and other municipal police agencies have pointed to numerous failures by investigating officers, including a failure to knock on his door before executing the warrant and not notifying local police before deputies moved in.

Both sides are expected to argue the latest motion in court later this month. Calvo is not seeking a specific amount in damages in the lawsuit but has asked for a judge to examine the county's procedures for handling search warrants.

"This isn't an isolated incident," Calvo said. "It's a pattern of behavior that needs to be addressed by the courts."
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Bobby Stainless

Bobby Stainless

"Ill let you try my Wu-Tang style"
Veteran
Cops are worthless individuals, who kill dogs, and beat their wives, and then go jerk off to child porn.

If you can't do anything else for a living, you go and become a cop, because it takes NO brain power what so ever.

LEOs are really pathetic. Can't catch a guy trying to blow a fucking plane up, but at least we killed those vicious labs...

I think I am going to go have a good vomit.
 
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xfargox

Member
Prince George's county is bad news in general. I think a former cop was sentenced a few months ago for murdering people that delivered his furniture.

Why do they always kill the dogs?
 
ItsGrowTime

ItsGrowTime

gets some
Veteran
xfargox said:
Prince George's county is bad news in general. I think a former cop was sentenced a few months ago for murdering people that delivered his furniture.

Why do they always kill the dogs?
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It's pretty much the only chance for them to play with their taxpayer purchased automatic machine gun "toys". 99% of people raided do not resist so dogs make easy targets.

The real issue here is why the cops didn't do due diligence before busting into this guy's house with a warrant. How long would it have taken to find out who lived there? Not long at all, especially if it's the friggin mayor! I hope that judge does what's right and holds them to the high standard they should be held to.
 
whodi

whodi

Active member
Veteran
they didn't take time to investigate because they wanted to bust the receiver of the package so they rushed it all... If they waited, the receiver coulda thought something was up and not accept the package maybe.

Sad stuff all the cops fault.
 
Maijah

Maijah

Member
it deeply saddens me to hear stories like this. Law enforcement tactics are very questionable, it sounds to me like someone jumped the gun with out doing all there homework, i really dont know what else to say, shit like this shouldn't happen.
 
Ribsauce

Ribsauce

Active member
simple green said:
Good news...ruling came down that he can proceed with lawsuit.

http://wjz.com/local/cheye.calvo.maryland.2.1524049.html
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are you serious i cant believe that this man hasnt even had the chance to sue yet... i remember hearing this on the news well over a year ago... also just wanted to say good call on the link simplegreen WJZ has the best news coverage and i dont even live in Maryland haha... but yea i really hope these cops get what they deserve
 
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