Elyria police release videos of home raid

ELYRIA — Elyria officials have released the first portion of body camera footage from the Elyria Police Department's raid of a Parmely Avenue home last week. Police served a search warrant at 331 Parmely Ave. on Jan. 10. SWAT officers entered the home, where Courtney Price and her 17-month-old son, Waylon, were staying with Price's aunt, Redia Jennings. The Jenningses and Price have since alleged officers searched the wrong house, and that Waylon was harmed in the incident, prompting public scrutiny into the incident. On Tuesday, the city posted eight videos from the event to its YouTube page as well as a statement from Mayor Kevin Brubaker along with several reports made following the incident. In his statement, Brubaker said that he has asked the Lorain County Sheriff's Office to conduct a review of the department's investigation. Brubaker said the video answered questions about the raid itself, but not about the process of obtaining the search warrant. "While the footage captured clearly illustrates what did and did not occur when the search warrant was executed, it does not answer questions of what led to the warrant itself," he said. "To answer those questions, I have also requested an external investigation. "Given the extreme nature of the allegations, I want all remaining questions answered transparently and independently." Brubaker said the eight videos released Tuesday are only the first of what would be released and that more time would be needed to review further videos and redact private information. It is not clear how many videos exist. What the videos show One of the major points of contention between the police and the residents of 331 Parmely Ave. was whether police "flash-bang" devices — which emit a minor explosion to cause noise and create a diversion — were deployed inside the home. Members of the family said that the devices were thrown into the home and that smoke from their explosion damaged Waylon's lungs and burned his eyes, body and throat. It can clearly be seen in several of the videos that two of these devices were deployed outside. One is thrown in the driveway of the home to the left of 331 Parmely, while the other is held on a pole in front of a window on the right side of the house. When it explodes, the device on the pole blows out the window, which is near where Waylon was sitting in his bassinet, and it shatters. Some smoke does appear to enter the house, and the device itself is immediately dropped to the ground. The street around the home is visibly smoky for around a minute, but, in video taken in the house, there does not appear to be visible smoke inside. Broken glass can be seen, predominantly underneath the large television that stood in front of the window that was broken by the flash bang. Price had said that police both refused to allow her to tend to her baby and themselves, neglecting to check on or care for him for an extended period of time. After police enter, Price, whose face is obscured in the video, is handcuffed and removed from the home where she speaks with several officers. An officer asks how old the baby is and tells other police on scene that the baby is on a ventilator. After about five minutes, Price's handcuffs are removed, and she re-enters the home with several officers. She goes to a side room to change out of her now wet socks, as she had been ordered out of the house without shoes. An officer questions her about who is staying in the home until another officer from outside the room interrupts and said, "Come here real quick, and let's tend to your kid first." They return to the baby, and an officer returns Price's phone so she can continue a conversation she had been having with Waylon's respiratory therapist. An officer asks if Waylon's breathing seems normal to Price, and she replies, "The breathing isn't normal, but he's OK." Medics, who accompanied police, enter the home around two minutes after Price and the officers and began asking questions about the baby's normal condition and how he is currently acting. Throughout this process, Price appears in the video to remain relatively calm, holding conversations with the medics and other officers both about her baby and other topics. Some of this discussion has had the audio removed, which Brubaker said was done throughout some of the videos to protect private information. One medic checks on the baby's breathing with a stethoscope. Eventually, he recommends the baby be taken to the hospital to be checked by a doctor "just in case." It is around this time that LifeCare Ambulance is called, and two LifeCare personnel enter the house about six minutes later, at which time the medics hand Waylon's care over to them. Price and her baby exit the house at around 2:47 p.m. and are taken to St. John Medical Center. Members of the Elyria police Special Response Team wearing body armor and armed with rifles then arrived at 331 Parmely Ave. in two unmarked vehicles at 2:12 p.m. One is a black work van and the other is a white box truck. Approximately 15 officers approach the house, some stacking themselves at the front door while two additional groups gather at each corner of the home. An officer bangs on the door and yells "Police, search warrant, come to the door." Nine seconds after he delivers that order, both flash-bangs are set off, and officers use a battering ram to break in the door. As the door is knocked open, Price screams and can be seen standing at the top of the staircase, leading to the second floor of the split-level home. "My baby's right here. My baby's right here," she calls out to the officers with her hands up. The officer wearing the camera from the angle that best shows the doorway instructs Price to come outside, and she tells him Waylon is on a ventilator. "Is it a permanent vent?," he asks twice, but Price does not respond, and she is handed back to another officer. The warrant The Chronicle received a picture of a portion of the warrant, which was signed by Lorain County Common Pleas Court Judge Chris Cook from Redia Jennings. The warrant states that Elyria police had demonstrated probable cause to search the premises, which it stated was believed to be occupied by a particular person. Jennings said that person is who police had been looking for on Jan. 10 and had come to her home in search of in the past. The affidavit which would outline the probable cause for the warrant is still sealed. The warrant stated that police were to search for firearms, firearms accessories, ammunition and burglary tools as well as clothing and cellphones. The inventory of the search which was shared with Jennings stated only "photos" as evidence taken. Released alongside Brubaker's statement and the footage were four reports made following the raid: three of them from the responding medics and one containing "SRT After Action Report." This report states that the department's detective bureau had been led to pursue a warrant at 331 Parmely Ave. following the carrying out of another warrant at 7:05 a.m. earlier on Jan. 10. The address of the first search was redacted in the report, but it mentions a "multiple stolen gun investigation." The report states that the first search had resulted in the recovery of three stolen guns and the arrest of two juveniles. Elyria police Sgt. Jim Wise is named as having requested SRT be used, and the report says he received information that stolen guns had been taken to 331 Parmely Ave. "... given the history and said location with extensive criminal activity along with subjects involved, SRT was needed," the report said. The report also said that Wise followed the proper channels to request the involvement of special response team, and that the request was approved through the department's chain of command. The warrant and the search that followed remain under review. Elyria Police bodycam videos provided by the City of Elyria (some audio muted by city) Extraction 147https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4KwAoh395A&list=PLgbF-DHxtZ6RfH0XnH3OIJnDJtEmuro8q&index=3 Extraction 323https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1d4HyINr4c&list=PLgbF-DHxtZ6RfH0XnH3OIJnDJtEmuro8q&index=8 Extraction 052https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiZuGcKhw50&list=PLgbF-DHxtZ6RfH0XnH3OIJnDJtEmuro8q&index=3 Extraction 298 https://youtu.be/gIuOZfvccKI?feature=shared Extraction 151https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qiUA6rknIg&list=PLgbF-DHxtZ6RfH0XnH3OIJnDJtEmuro8q&index=4 Extraction 196https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vACVn3TXXtk&list=PLgbF-DHxtZ6RfH0XnH3OIJnDJtEmuro8q&index=5 Extraction 199 exteriorhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzWhVg00H3c&list=PLgbF-DHxtZ6RfH0XnH3OIJnDJtEmuro8q&index=6 Extraction 209 exteriorhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoZlT753_i4&list=PLgbF-DHxtZ6RfH0XnH3OIJnDJtEmuro8q&index=7 Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com. 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