Policy

Another Isolated Incident

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Cook County, Illinois:

An elderly couple says Cook County sheriff's police on a drug raid smashed into their Southwest Side house late Thursday night, terrorizing them before admitting they had the wrong house.

With her husband already asleep, 84-year-old Anna Jakymek was just turning out the lights when she heard loud noises at the back and front doors about 11:30 p.m.

Her initial thought was that her 89-year old husband had fallen out of bed, but she realized something else was happening when she looked into the front room.

"I see maybe 20 guys come in and see the door knocked open," she said…

Son Andrew said the most potent drug in the home is aspirin.

"They don't smoke, drink or even watch TV. They believe in America," he said.

He added that his father, Andrij, suffers from Alzheimer's Disease and has terminal cancer.

"He won't even take pain medicine," he said…

His mother, he said, called him after the raid at the request of the supervising sergeant on the scene. When he got there, he said he was told the officers had raided the wrong home.

"When I arrived the officer explained they had misinformation, but said his job was over, and he was leaving. They left a copy of the warrant, but he absolved himself of any responsibility for the raid or the damage," Andrew Jakymec said.

He estimated the damage to broken doors, locks and windows at up to $3,000.

"Everything was violently opened. Cabinets were ripped open, clothes and sheets were everywhere, and pieces of wood where the doors were rammed were all over the place," he said.

Bonus points: The Jakymeks emigrated to the U.S. from the Ukraine in the 1960s in order to escape Soviet oppression.