Officials Probe Mistaken Raid and Death
N E W Y O R K, May 17 -- An experienced police emergency service lieutenant has been taken off the street and a probe into his judgment has been ordered after his decision to toss a flash bang grenade into the wrong apartment Friday may have contributed to an innocent woman's fatal heart attack.
The death of Alberta Spruill, 57, has led to a police investigation into all aspects of the narcotics raid gone bad, including:
The reliability of a registered police informant who gave police the location for the raid, but apparently has provided no useful information in the past.
The decision to execute a "no knock" warrant and batter down the door to Spruill's apartment on West 143rd St., while the drug dealer whose weapons and drugs were sought was already in jail.
The circumstances under which a Manhattan judge signed the warrant on May 5, which did not specify the use of a stun grenade.
A review of the use of such powerful sound and light stun weapons, used successfully in 150 instances in 2002 and 85 instances in 2003, and intended as a non-lethal shock tool to reduce the instances in which firearms are needed.
A review of whether the 12 person raiding party that entered Spruill's Harlem apartment was aware that the drug dealer had been arrested on May 12 by a narcotics unit.
A review of the lieutenant's judgment in ordering the use of the device.
Morning Raid
Spruill was a 29-year city employee who had dressed for work and was preparing to leave at 6:00 a.m. when raiders gathered at her door.
At 6:10, the door of her apartment flew in before a battering ram. Loud police voices shattered the early morning quiet of the apartment complex. Within a seconds, the explosion of the flash bang grenade reverberated through her apartment.
Raiders then handcuffed Spruill to a chair. A police captain entered the apartment and saw the description he had been given did not match the layout of the apartment.
Spruill was uncuffed and asked about her health. She told police she had a heart condition but that she felt fine. An ambulance was called as a precaution. It arrived at 6:41. Her vital signs were tested by emergency medical technicians and they appeared to be acceptable.
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