On Tuesday, Cherokee County Sheriff David Groves and his
heroic team of militarized storm troopers descended on the home of a single mom
and her four kids. Upon removing the mother and her four children from the
house, police entered into a 20-hour-long standoff — with the empty house.
According to Sheriff Groves, police were looking for Doug
Alexius, a suspect wanted on a misdemeanor count of assaulting a law
enforcement officer and another drug-related charge. Upon entering the home,
the team used a ‘hi-tech’ and expensive infrared camera that showed them
Alexius was hiding in the attic. Incorrectly believing Alexius was in the
attic, they backed out and a 20-hour long standoff ensued.
“Time is on our side,” the sheriff said during their heated
standoff with an empty house. “We have the luxury of being able to rotate
officers out. At some point, he’s going to have to come out of there.”
After not breaking things or killing anyone for 19 hours,
the officers became restless, said to hell with the Sheriff’s strategy of
waiting for him to come out, and proceeded to storm the home.
A SWAT truck with a battering ram attached was used to poke
holes and tear apart the house in an attempt to drive the nonexistent suspect
out. As deputies became unable to find him, they began taking their frustration
out on couches, beds, lamps, clothing, toys, and even the family’s Christmas
tree was ripped through a window and smashed to bits.
The entire time, Nita Lane, the homeowner, was trying to
tell the cops that Alexius was not there and does not live there.
The sheriff, quite expectedly, remains unapologetic. Despite
being told by the victim that Alexius was not in her house, Groves maintains
that his officers acted in the best possible manner.
“Some may suggest you just rush in, and we could have
cleared that house in a matter of minutes. But if there was a suspect in there
and would have shot one of our officers or something else happened, and he was
able to breach the perimeter and jeopardize the safety of the residents nearby,
that’s not a risk I’m willing to take,” Groves continued entirely missing his
own point.
Groves did eventually “rush in and clear the house.” Just
because it took him 20-hours to decide to do it, doesn’t change that fact at
all.
Instead of apologizing or offering to help clean up the mess
he and his crony soldiers made, Groves refers the victim to some vague FBI
program that allegedly cleans up after cops wrongly destroy a family’s home.
The Free Thought Project spoke with the victim’s neighbor,
Vonda Macklin, who said the SWAT team, “left holes in ceiling, all the windows were
smashed out, holes in were left in the side of the house” and they literally
“ripped her Christmas tree apart,” using a set of claws on the front of a
vehicle.
Cops don’t care about people. They should remember that they
deal with humans. Officers destroyed Christmas for this family, did nothing to
help them, made no apologies and then even said that they acted in the best
possible manner. It’s narcissism. Thank God they didn’t shot at Nita Lane and
her children. It’s a shame! But sadly this case is even not surprising. Too
many outrageous deeds was made by U.S. police lately.
