Annapolis Police admit they raided the wrong house during a drug bust Wednesday, but will not say they made a mistake or issue a public apology.
“We?re still investigating, so for legal reasons we can?t say more,” said Officer Hal Dalton. “If there were wrongs, we?ll make amends. Just give us time to settle things down and try to get to the bottom of what exactly took place.”
A narcotics unit was to execute a warrant at apartment 301 on 901 Primrose Road at the Spa Creek Apartments. But police instead knocked down the door of apartment 301 at 905 Primrose Road.
According to police, a woman tried to bar the officers from entering the apartment while another man was inside. A flash grenade was used to distract the woman, and the police entered the apartment.
Dalton would not give specifics on exactly what happened inside the apartment, but according to published reports the officers kicked the man in the groin. A second couple returned to the apartment, and police pushed aside a pregnant woman, the reports said.
Once policerealize the wrong apartment was raided, medical assistance was given to the residents. A 30-year-old woman was taken to a local hospital, where she was later released.
The officers then went to the right building, but no one was in the apartment and no contraband was found, Dalton said. Residents say the first raid caused a noticeable commotion.
The residents of raided apartment were not available for comment Thursday evening.
Eddie Montejo, 38, lives at 905 Primrose Road and came home from work just as the raid ended. While the firefighters told him it was a minor incident, he said the residents appeared injured and may have been sprayed with pepper spray.
“I?m not scared of the police, and I understand they?re trying to do their job,” Montejo said. “But we are concerned because they?ve got to make sure they get the right place.”
On Friday, Annapolis Mayor Ellen O. Moyer said in a statement that officers were not “overzealous” as some people have said.
“Can we ever be ?overzealous? when it comes to attacking the drug problem in Annapolis?”
Moyer pointed out three recent drug arrests that resulted from Neighborhood Watch patrols. She also noted that so far this year police have made 177 drug-related arrests and 24 search-and-seizure warrants carried out by the same unit that peformed the raid Wednesday.
Moyer said the police are fulfilling the resident?s demand to aggressively root out drug dealers in the city.
“We cannot let one unfortunate incident discourage this community and our police force from continuing their efforts to restore and rekindle hope and a sense of security in our city,” she said.
There was no apology in her remarks, though she said she could not comment on the details of the incident during the investigation.
