Police in Maple Grove, Minnesota, are under fire after a bungled raid looking for a stolen snowblower led to a series of event that ended with an innocent pregnant woman's shackling and arrest, KARE11 reports.
Now, taxpayers in Hennepin County must pay $500,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by the woman, who says she's now suffering from PTSD over the incident.
The incident began when Maple Grove Police mistakenly suspected the woman’s husband, Faris Hussein, was part of a prolific theft ring. When police raided his home, Hussein told his wife to call 911 because he thought his home was being robbed.
Faris says he was playing video games while wearing a headset and didn’t hear officers knock and announce themselves as police. He then fired warning shots from his legally owned handgun, prompting police to fire back. When he realized the raid was being conducted by police, he surrendered.
IN OTHER NEWS: 'Beyond stupid': Morning Joe mocks Trump's reaction to Georgia report'
His wife, Sara, who was 9 months pregnant, says in the lawsuit that she was slammed to the ground on her belly and immediately went in labor.
An internal affairs investigation found that the detective in the case didn't follow proper protocols that could have deescalated the situation when Hussein didn’t answer the door, adding that the detective treated it like a “narcotics warrant” after failing to communicate the rules of engagement with the other officers.
“There’s reason why you have these protocols in place, so something like this doesn’t happen,” said Faris and Sara’s attorney, Nick Sweeney.
KARE 11 Investigates: Bungled raid led to innocent pregnant woman’s shackling www.youtube.com
(Correction: This article incorrectly claimed that the Minneapolis Police Department were involved in the incident. Raw Story regrets the error.)
