ATLANTA (AP) — Officers raiding a Georgia home in search
of a drug suspect used a flash grenade not knowing children were inside,
severely burning a toddler who was sleeping just inside the door,
authorities and the boy’s family said.
Habersham County Sheriff
Joey Terrell said the officers were looking for a suspect who may have
been armed and followed proper procedure by using the device, which
creates a bright flash and loud bang to distract suspects. A lawyer for
the family said he believes the officers acted improperly and he would
like to see them prosecuted.
"It’s a tragic incident," Terrell said. "The baby didn’t deserve this."
Alecia Phonesavanh told local news media her son was sleeping in his playpen when the raid began
Wednesday morning.
"The
cops threw that grenade in the door without looking first, and it
landed right in the playpen and exploded on his pillow right in his
face," Phonesavanh told WSB-TV.
Phonesavanh said the boy’s face
was severely burned, and he was in a medically induced coma in a
hospital. She said her family had been visiting from out of town and
were all sleeping at the house in Cornelia, about 80 miles northeast of
Atlanta, when the raid happened about 3 a.m.
The toddler’s family
was staying with family in Georgia after their home in Wisconsin
recently burned down, Terrell said. In an interview with investigators,
the toddler’s mother said she knew methamphetamine was being sold out of
the home and tried to keep her four children away from any drugs or
drug activity, Terrell said.
If there had been any indication that
there were children in the house, the officers would have used a
different door and would not have used the flash grenade, Terrell said.
The
officers were looking for Wanis Thonetheva, 30, who lives at the home
with his mother and had recently sold drugs to an informant at the
house, the sheriff said. A judge granted them a no-knock warrant because
Thonetheva had a recent prior arrest involving a gun and drugs, Terrell
said.
When the officers arrived at the home, they found the door
locked and used a ram to get it open enough to toss in the flash
grenade, Terrell said.
The officers then pushed their way in and
found the injured child in a playpen that had been pushed up against the
door, Terrell said. A medic with the team took the child, who was taken
to Atlanta for treatment.
Thonetheva was not at the home, but
officers found methamphetamine residue and drug paraphernalia in his
room, Terrell said. Thonetheva was arrested a few hours later at another
location and charged with distribution of methamphetamine. He was being
held Friday on $15,000 bond, and it wasn’t immediately clear if he had a
lawyer.
The officers involved are very upset and they and their
families have been receiving death threats, Terrell said. There is no
continuing investigation, and the officers involved are still on duty,
he said. It will be up to the local prosecutor to decide whether the
case merits further investigation, the sheriff said.
Habersham
County District Attorney Brian Rickman told WSB-TV his office will
review the incident and witness statements to determine whether charges
should be filed.
The boy’s family disputes the sheriff’s claim
that the playpen was pushed against the door, said lawyer Mawuli Mel
Davis, who’s representing them.
"That’s a flat out lie," he said,
adding that the playpen was six or seven feet from the door. "It’s not
even logical for them to block the door with a playpen with their son in
it."
A lawsuit is possible, Davis said, but right now the family
is focusing on doing everything possible to encourage further
investigation and to push for criminal prosecution of the officers.
"It’s
unbelievable those officers continue to be on the street and continue
to be employed after the way the family was treated and the son was
injured," Davis said.
Cornelia Police Chief Rick Darby, whose
officers were also involved in the raid, didn’t immediately return a
call from The Associated Press on Friday. He told WSB-TV that officers
were distraught over what happened.
"You’re trying to minimize
anything that could go wrong and in this case the greatest thing went
wrong," Darby told the station. "Is it going to make us be more careful
in the next one? Yes ma’am, it is. It’s gonna make us double question."