Chicago family demands apology after police raid their home by mistake
FOX 32 NEWS - It was a raid gone wrong.
On Thursday morning, Chicago police searching for a suspect busted into the wrong apartment on the West Side.
“At 6:00 o'clock this morning we woke up to someone banging on our door and windows,” said tenant Ashanti Franklin.
It was a rude awakening for the Franklin family when some unannounced and unwelcome cops showed up at her apartment door looking for a man named Gregory Hines.
“He says to me you need to open the door and if you don't open the door within two seconds we're gonna kick the f*ckin' door in. So I said you have to do what you have to do because I'm telling you there's no Gregory Hines here,” Franklin said.
Police used a battering ram to bust open both her doors. The six officers, dressed in plain clothes, tossed the bedroom and living room, never showing the family any warrant or police identification
“They presented is with nothin, they told me shut the F up, get out the way, just treated me like a nobody, basically in my own house,” said tenant Romell Franklin, Sr.
“They pretty much disrespected us, they disrespected my husband, ‘you see six white men outside, you shouldn't question it, you should answer the damn door,’" Mrs. Franklin said one officer said to her. “What does that mean, just because you're white doesn't mean you’re right."
Romell Franklin said he went to the nearby police station to file a complaint and felt like a victim all over again.
“I wanted to file a complaint on the officer, but they giving me attitude like I done something wrong, y'all kicked in my door, I didn't kick in y'all's door, y'all kicked my door in, so why you mad at me? I just want some answers,” Franklin said.
But he got none. Chicago police said they were actively working with the Franklins to get their doors fixed, but it was the landlord who took care of putting on new door knobs and locks. The family wants something more from police.
"They owe me an apology, they need to give me a verbal and a formal apology in writing,” Ashanti Franklin said.
Police did admit they went to the wrong address, and they did end up finding the suspect they were looking for in the apartment below the Franklin's.