Collateral Damage

Larry Chidester was asleep in his Springville, Utah, home one night when a loud crash woke him up. He went outside to investigate. Bad move. A Utah County Sheriff's Office SWAT team was raiding his next door neighbor's house, but when they saw Chidester, deputies went after him, too. According to a lawsuit the Chidester family filed, an officer yelled "There's one!" and officers tackled him and shoved his face into the ground. They then kicked in a side door, went into the home, entered the bedroom of Chidester's parents and threw his father to the floor. Utah County Sheriff Jim Tracy admits the Chidester home was not the SWAT team's target. He says the Chidesters became involved in the raid "as an ancillary issue." "The warrant was for the house next door but in the service of that warrant they became involved … they had contact with us," Tracy told a local newspaper.