Idiot SWAT Team Tried to Catch Guy Who Was Already in Prison
After collecting tips from (drunk? bath salts-addled?) witnesses and obtaining a warrant, a Santa Maria, California SWAT team stormtroopered the home of Hope and Javier Bravo Sr. in search of their son, Javier Bravo Jr. But he was already incarcerated. Which seems like something they should have known!
And they could have known, very easily—but somehow (intoxication? bath salts again?) whoever was in charge of reading the paperwork on Javier Junior's case had failed to do so carefully, and a search warrant was issued. The SWATters put on their fashionable military gear, went over to the Bravos' house, and surprised them with an impromptu performance:
The team showed up at 5:30 a.m. with flash-bang grenades, burst into the home and pointed their weapons at the Bravos and their 8-year-old grandson, who ran screaming into the bathroom, the ruling states. The officers left after Hope Bravo showed them a recent letter from her son, mailed from prison.
Given that this incident was completely avoidable, the Bravos had a pretty strong case against the city, the county, and various officers involved in the attempted raid, and received some settlement monies to purchase their own flash-bang grenades and scare their grandson. Now the family is going after Detective Louis Tanore, who obtained the unmerited warrant, thanks to a recent Ninth Circuit court ruling. Tanore's defense will be that he's not truly a detective but a character in a detective novel, as his too-perfect name suggests.
