Pubdate: Wed, 28 Jan 2009
Source: Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)
Copyright: 2009 The Daily Herald Company
Contact:  http://www.dailyherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/107
Author: Larissa Chinwah
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)

MOTHER SUES VILLAGE, COPS OVER DRUG BUST GONE WRONG

A 28-year-old mother of three is suing Carpentersville and three of 
its police officers, claiming they broke into the wrong apartment 
during a drug bust last year.

The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court, names 
Kianna Jakes of Carpentersville and her three minor children - aged 
11, 9, and 6 - as plaintiffs. Officer Matthew Ostrem and two unnamed 
officers are listed as defendants.

The plaintiffs are seeking "a substantial sum in punitive damages," 
as well as court costs and attorney fees, court documents state

"We are not demanding an amount, we are seeking what the court finds 
reasonable," Jakes attorney Tony Thedford said Tuesday.

Jakes' suit alleges Ostrem and the two unnamed officers forcefully 
entered her apartment on the 0-100 block of Oxford Road in the early 
hours of January 17 last year without a warrant.

Thedford said the officers, dressed in SWAT uniforms with lights on 
their heads and carrying assault weapons, kicked in Jakes' bedroom 
door, yelling at her to get on the floor face down.

After asking to see a warrant, the suit says, Jakes was shown a 
warrant to search a different apartment.

Despite being in the wrong apartment, the suit alleges the officers 
used police dogs to search the home for drugs.

The incident took about two hours, Thedford said.

"As a direct and proximate result of this illegal search and seizure, 
plaintiffs have suffered damages, including emotional damages," the suit says.

Carpentersville Police Commander Tim Bosshart declined to comment on 
the lawsuit until the department and village received official paperwork.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom