WA Town Pays $100K Over Warrantless Home Raid

The guilty officers remain on the payroll

Just before Lake Stevens police Officers Steve Warbis and James Wellington forced their way into the home of Brandon Fenter and roughly arrested him one night in June 2011, Warbis reportedly asked, "Remember me?"

No doubt, Fenter will.

The city paid Fenter and his wife $100,000 last week to settle a federal civil-rights lawsuit he filed over the incident.

The lawsuit alleged that Warbis and Wellington had no warrant and could not meet any of the other criteria that could justify entering Fenter's property without one, such as responding to an emergency. Fenter was charged with reckless driving after his arrest, but the charge was later dropped.