In a troubling incident, the mayor of Elyria, Ohio, has ordered an investigation following allegations made by a woman that police officers raided her home, deployed flash bang devices, and injured her 1-year-old child. However, the police have countered this claim, stating that they executed the search warrant at the correct address and that the child did not sustain any visible injuries.
The mayor, Kevin A. Brubaker, has called the accusations “serious and disturbing” and has announced a complete review of the incident. On Saturday, he revealed that the body camera footage from the incident would be released on Tuesday. The Elyria Police Department had obtained a court-authorized search warrant for a residence on Parmely Avenue as part of a criminal investigation.
Conflicting Accounts
According to the police, the search warrant was executed at 2:12 p.m. The Elyria Police Special Response Team deployed flash-bang devices outside the residence and made repeated announcements before entering the home. Inside, they found a woman and her 17-month-old child. Courtney Price, the woman who made the allegations, described the ordeal on Facebook, stating that the officers knocked on the door forcefully, causing the doors and windows to burst open.
Price claimed that the flash-bang devices were thrown into her home, enveloping her baby, Waylon, in smoke. She insisted that her baby was visibly suffocating and changing color, but the officers allegedly ignored him. Price further alleged that she was grabbed and put into handcuffs after screaming that her baby was on a ventilator. She stated that two medics checked her baby, with one saying everything sounded clear, while Price believed her baby did not sound clear.
The Aftermath
Elyria police, on the other hand, contended that the woman informed officers of her baby’s pre-existing medical condition, and both detectives and paramedics assessed the child, confirming the absence of any apparent injuries. The police called an ambulance to transport the baby to the hospital due to the lack of a car seat.
Waylon was subsequently placed in the pediatric ICU at University Hospitals, where doctors diagnosed him with chemical pneumonitis, inflammation of the lung tissue caused by chemicals. Price also alleged that her baby had burns all over his body and experienced difficulty breathing due to a chemical reaction in and around his eyes.
Calls for Investigation
Price held the Elyria Police Department responsible for this alleged negligence, accusing them of causing the chemical reaction and demanding an explanation. The police, however, maintained that the child was unharmed during the operation. They clarified that the flash-bang devices, which were deployed outside the home, do not produce a continuous burn nor release any pepper gas or chemical agents.
The search warrant was intended for Price’s address but was issued in pursuit of a teenager who had not lived there for more than a year. The mayor’s office has been reviewing body camera footage from the operation and expects it to provide clarity on the deployment of the flash-bangs.
“Our residents demand to know what occurred, and rightfully so,” said Mayor Brubaker. “Thankfully, our city had the technology to record events in real-time via many body-worn cameras throughout the entirety of the incident. I’m particularly grateful these cameras captured clear audio and video from several angles. I am eager to release this footage for all of you to view.”
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