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On May 16, 2003, 57-year-old Alberta Spruill died of a heart attack shortly after police mistakenly raided her Harlem, New York, apartment for drugs. The office of the city medical examiner attributed her death to "the stress and the fear that she experienced" during the raid.
The warrant for the raid was issued on the basis of a tip from a confidential informant, who told police that a drug dealer lived on the 9th floor of Spruill's building but had stashed guns and drugs in an apartment on the 6th floor, where Spruill lived.
Because the warrant was "no-knock," a group of 12 armed police officers used a battering ram to topple Spruill's door at 6:10 a.m., just as the longtime city employee was preparing to go to work. Officers detonated a stun grenade, intended to disorient anyone inside the apartment. The explosion shattered a glass-top table.
A neighbor described the raid: "I heard the boom. Police shouted, 'Get down!' The lady was screaming. They invaded her apartment. In the hall, she was screaming, 'I can't breathe! I can't breathe!' She was coughing."
Spruill was briefly handcuffed before police realized they had the wrong apartment. She refused medical attention, despite feeling chest pains, but an ambulance was summoned anyway. On the way to a hospital, Spruill went into cardiac arrest and was declared dead at 7:50 a.m., less than two hours after the raid.
The office of New York City's medical examiner ruled Spruill's death a homicide because it was caused by another person, and that the "stress and the fear that she experienced" during the raid had caused her death.
Spruill's death prompted civil rights activist Al Sharpton to call for an independent investigation of the botched police raid. The city eventually modified its regulations governing the use of confidential informants and no-knock warrants, though a temporary moratorium on the use of stun grenades was lifted within just days of Spruill's death. Subsequent city council hearings revealed dozens of similar incidents where completely innocent people were mistakenly raided by police.
New York City eventually settled a lawsuit with Spruill's family for $1.6 million.
Newshawk: Stoner4Life - 420 Magazine
Source: Marijuana Policy Project
Copyright: 2006 Marijuana Policy Project
Contact: info@mpp.org
Website: Marijuana Policy Project - Home
The warrant for the raid was issued on the basis of a tip from a confidential informant, who told police that a drug dealer lived on the 9th floor of Spruill's building but had stashed guns and drugs in an apartment on the 6th floor, where Spruill lived.
Because the warrant was "no-knock," a group of 12 armed police officers used a battering ram to topple Spruill's door at 6:10 a.m., just as the longtime city employee was preparing to go to work. Officers detonated a stun grenade, intended to disorient anyone inside the apartment. The explosion shattered a glass-top table.
A neighbor described the raid: "I heard the boom. Police shouted, 'Get down!' The lady was screaming. They invaded her apartment. In the hall, she was screaming, 'I can't breathe! I can't breathe!' She was coughing."
Spruill was briefly handcuffed before police realized they had the wrong apartment. She refused medical attention, despite feeling chest pains, but an ambulance was summoned anyway. On the way to a hospital, Spruill went into cardiac arrest and was declared dead at 7:50 a.m., less than two hours after the raid.
The office of New York City's medical examiner ruled Spruill's death a homicide because it was caused by another person, and that the "stress and the fear that she experienced" during the raid had caused her death.
Spruill's death prompted civil rights activist Al Sharpton to call for an independent investigation of the botched police raid. The city eventually modified its regulations governing the use of confidential informants and no-knock warrants, though a temporary moratorium on the use of stun grenades was lifted within just days of Spruill's death. Subsequent city council hearings revealed dozens of similar incidents where completely innocent people were mistakenly raided by police.
New York City eventually settled a lawsuit with Spruill's family for $1.6 million.
Newshawk: Stoner4Life - 420 Magazine
Source: Marijuana Policy Project
Copyright: 2006 Marijuana Policy Project
Contact: info@mpp.org
Website: Marijuana Policy Project - Home
