SEATTLE — A woman is suing after officers barged into her home, making a mistake.
Body camera video shows the moments Seattle Police officers broke down the door of her Belltown apartment back on November 22, 2020. The video shows officers knocking on the door and yelling, “Seattle Police Department! Open the door or we’re coming in!” The video shows no response and an officer breaks down the door.
The woman was about to take a bath when the incident occurred. The woman inside was screaming, crying, and hysterical as police told her to show them her hands and ask who else was there. She told them she lived alone and the video shows officers escorting her out of the apartment while police continue their search. The video shows the woman sobbing outside her apartment as SPD realizes its mistake.
An officer says, “This is the wrong address.”
SPD was supposed to respond to a call in the building next door for a man in crisis.
“We thought that you were the victim and that you were being held captive inside,” one of the officers tells the woman, trying to calm her down.
The woman is now suing the city of Seattle and the five officers involved.
“I think she came within a hairs breath of being shot to death,” Jay Krulewitch, her attorney, said. “To this day, she’s still shaken from what happened.”
KIRO 7 reached out to the City of Seattle and SPD for comment but both said it could not comment on pending litigation.