and all they found was kalk. . .

[bad coffee]

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=509182

Brooklyn Park police were looking for a meth lab, but they found a fish tank and the chemicals needed to maintain it.

And a few hours later, when the city sent a contractor to fix the door the police had smashed open Monday afternoon, it was obvious the city was trying to fix a mistake.
It happened while Kathy Adams was sleeping.

"And the next thing I know, a police officer is trying to get me out bed," she said.

Adams, a 54-year-old former nurse who said she suffers from a bad back caused by a patient who attacked her a few years ago, was handcuffed. So was her 49-year-old husband.

"They brought us here and said once we clear that area, you can sit down and you will not speak to each other," she said.

Police were executing a search warrant signed by Hennepin County Judge Ivy Bernhardson, who believed there was probable cause the Adams's home was a meth lab.

Berhardson, who was appointed to the bench less than a year ago, did not return KARE 11's phone calls.

"Ohmigod," Adams said as she recalled police breaking down her door and flashing the search warrant. "I just kept saying to them, 'you've got the wrong house.' "

Police soon realized that themselves.

"From a cursory view, it doesn't look like our officers did anything wrong," said Capt. Greg Roehl.

Roehl said the drug task force was acting on a tip from a subcontractor for CenterPoint Energy, who had been in the home Friday to install a hot water heater.

"He got hit with a chemical smell that he said made him light headed, feel kind of nauseous," Roehl said.

The smell was vinegar, and maybe pickling lime, which were clearly marked in a bathroom Mr. Adams uses to mix chemicals for his salt water fish tank.

"I said, 'I call it his laboratory for his fish tanks,' " Mrs. Adams said, recalling her conversation with the CenterPoint technician. "I'm looking at the fish tank talking to this guy."

Police say there was no extended investigation, just an interview with the subcontractor.

"Everything this person told us turned out to be true, with the exception of what the purpose of the lab was," Roehl said.

Adams is looking for a lawyer.

"I could say that about my neighbor - I smelled something when I went in their house," she said. "Does that make it right for them to go in there and break the door down and cuff you? I think not!"

Police say the detective who asked for the search warrant is an 8 ?-year veteran, but he just started working in the drug task force.

CenterPoint energy maintains the home was "unsafe" and it would have been "irresponsible" for the subcontractor not to report it.

 

[prattreef]

:bigeyes: LMAO !!!!!!

 

[Domboski]

Lmfao!

 

[daisy]

Holy cow. I wonder if they have a case.....

Better watch out! Big brother is watching us....

 

[ellebelle]

Weren't we just joking about this at the swap?! :lol2:

 

[ming]

That sucks! They really need some better investigation

 

[russianmd]

OHMIGOD, I was just looking at color of bulbs, and came across a pot-growing site - at WORK! I know they monitor which sites we visit...

Can't wait to have that conversation with the HR person...

 

[Domboski]

I've read some reefer's story on another forum about how the police targeted his home because they were using infared detection from helicopters and he had so many lights on they thought he was growing marijuana. Pretty crazy. I believe it happened to him more than once too.

 

[bad coffee]

it happened to my old boss. They saw all the light and raided the place.

One of the cops ended up setting up a reef tank!

B

 

[lfsmarineguy]

It's definitely addictive, it's just not chemical lol. Maybe, I have found a new line of work. I could be the first ever civilian contractor to help investigators differentiate between reefers and ummm.....well reefers.

 

[meschaefer]

The guy this happened to posted about it over on RC. Wherein their is a big discussion about whether he has a lawsuit available to him.

In my learned opinion, and I am by no means an expert on these types of matters, he really has very little chance of succeeding in a law suit. The police didn't maliciously target him. They where brought a tip from what they reasonably believed to be a reliable source. (i.e. he was just a concerned citizen without an obvious ulterior motive). This information needed to be vetted by a judge, and in many jurisdictions the local district attorneys office. After being reviewed, a search warrant was issued.

That warrant was executed. There are many different types of warrants ranging from ones that require a nice knock on the door, to "no knock" warrants that allow them to bust threw the door. This appears to have been a hybrid, wherein they knocked first and then busted down the door. The concern is that evidence could have been tampered with, or in the case of a meth lab (which is what they believed it to be based upon the informant) that the lab would be set on fire with a possibility of it blowing up.

Think about it in reverse, say they got the same tip but didn't do anything. But in this case it is a meth lab and a week or two later it blows up killing the neighbors in the house/apartment next door. It comes out in the news that they "knew" about it yet didn't investigate.... people would be calling for a law suit. I am not suggesting the police didn't screw up, but public policy dictates that they be given some latitude. Very likely the career of the detective involved will be impacted to some extent and that is incentive enough for him to do a good job.

As a final thought, there was some discussion on RC about whether the cops should have something better to do then concern themselves with drugs. That to me is beside the point (although I am at heart a libertarian), the real issue is that such labs are extremely dangerous. I honestly don't care if the guy next door to me is growing pot, but I don't want him cooking meth as that is dangerous to me wherein the former is not, and I would want the cops to take that seriously all other things aside.

 

[boozeman]

The police came knocking at my door once to ask me about the MH lamps and plants that were brightly visible thru my upstairs window. At the time I had a large indoor bonsai collection :lol:

 

[PalmTree]

The guy this happened to posted about it over on RC. Wherein their is a big discussion about whether he has a lawsuit available to him.

In my learned opinion, and I am by no means an expert on these types of matters, he really has very little chance of succeeding in a law suit. The police didn't maliciously target him. They where brought a tip from what they reasonably believed to be a reliable source. (i.e. he was just a concerned citizen without an obvious ulterior motive). This information needed to be vetted by a judge, and in many jurisdictions the local district attorneys office. After being reviewed, a search warrant was issued.

That warrant was executed. There are many different types of warrants ranging from ones that require a nice knock on the door, to "no knock" warrants that allow them to bust threw the door. This appears to have been a hybrid, wherein they knocked first and then busted down the door. The concern is that evidence could have been tampered with, or in the case of a meth lab (which is what they believed it to be based upon the informant) that the lab would be set on fire with a possibility of it blowing up.

Think about it in reverse, say they got the same tip but didn't do anything. But in this case it is a meth lab and a week or two later it blows up killing the neighbors in the house/apartment next door. It comes out in the news that they "knew" about it yet didn't investigate.... people would be calling for a law suit. I am not suggesting the police didn't screw up, but public policy dictates that they be given some latitude. Very likely the career of the detective involved will be impacted to some extent and that is incentive enough for him to do a good job.

As a final thought, there was some discussion on RC about whether the cops should have something better to do then concern themselves with drugs. That to me is beside the point (although I am at heart a libertarian), the real issue is that such labs are extremely dangerous. I honestly don't care if the guy next door to me is growing pot, but I don't want him cooking meth as that is dangerous to me wherein the former is not, and I would want the cops to take that seriously all other things aside.

Well said Matt!

 

[EmilyT]

:biglaugh: thats horrible!!!