Phila. police sorry for raiding wrong house
POLICE HAVE apologized for raiding a Southwest Philadelphia woman's home early Wednesday based on inaccurate information, but the woman, Ronik Jardine, refuses to accept the apology.
POLICE HAVE apologized for raiding a Southwest Philadelphia woman's home early Wednesday based on inaccurate information, but the woman, Ronik Jardine, refuses to accept the apology.
"I'm not accepting apologies, because their mistake could have been a mistake of me being dead," she said. "I'm having anxiety and panic attacks because of this."
According to police spokesman Lt. John Stanford, officers raided the house in the 6000 block of Elmwood Avenue based on information that three armed home-invasion suspects had fled into the residence.
Inside the house, officers found four people, two of whom were taken into custody for questioning, Stanford said. Police later determined they had the wrong residence and cleared all involved.
"I understand the sentiment of the family. I think anyone would be upset and anyone has a right to be upset," Stanford said. "I see it from their side, but I also know our officers were working in good faith."
Jardine, 48, said she was sleeping when she awoke to officers' lights and "a big rifle in my face."
"I bend over to pick my shorts up and he points the gun at me like I was picking up a weapon," Jardine said.
The incident was especially disturbing for Jardine because in 1991, when she was four months pregnant, she said, she survived being shot in the back of the head by an ex-boyfriend. She said she was in a coma for weeks and has post-traumatic stress disorder because of the incident.
Not only was Jardine worried for her own safety during the raid, but she also was concerned for the safety of her two sons, ages 20 and 28, and one of their friends who was also at the house, she said.
"I'd already been shot in my head and then the cops put guns to me and my children," she said. "All I could think was, 'I'm going to die.' "
Stanford said that the city's Office of Risk Management had contacted the family to make any needed repairs to the home, and that the Police Department would "work everything out to make this family whole again."
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