“Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.”
Haile Selassie
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Colorado Home Destroyed as Police SWAT Team Pursues Shoplifter Who Fired on Officers
GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. - "There was one gunman with a handgun and they chose to turn this house into something that resembles Osama Bin Laden's compound."
Leo Lech is more than a little upset, and he is not afraid to express it with colorful language.
After all, the house he purchased for his son now has gaping holes where it once had walls and windows. Past the exposed studs and insulation of the condemned structure, you can see artwork on the wall of a 9-year-old boy's bedroom.
"In any civilized nation ... this is the act of paramilitary thugs," he says he told the chief of the Greenwood Village Police Department.
The chief, Lech said, brushed it off.
The damage was inflicted by police and SWAT officers who were working to capture Robert Jonathan Seacat, a suspected 33-year-old shoplifter who allegedly barged into a random home Wednesday afternoon, and opened fire on police when they tried to arrest him a short time later.
The incident began Wednesday afternoon, when he was allegedly spotted shoplifting in Aurora. Seacat then drove to a nearby light rail station, where he ditched his car and ran.
...
There was obviously some kind of explosive that was fired into here," Lech said, showing 7NEWS anchor Anne Trujillo the cavernous hole in the wall that used to protect the boy's bedroom.
Those holes are visible in nearly every room on the second floor.
A neighbor, who says the SWAT team used his home as a base of operations, points out that whatever the police used to blast the holes sent debris flying.
"When they used the explosives to blow apart the side of this house here, they broke our windshield," the neighbor said. blockquote>
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His insurance will pay for the structure, but Lech's son did not have rental insurance and the possessions inside are therefore not being covered.
Interestingly, in a related story the Greenwood Village Police Commander said that the department followed "textbook" procures and that the department won because the got the suspect out alive.
"I value life more than property and I would hope you guys do the same," Varney told news reporters. "I could easily have instituted a plan to go in there, I assure you, in the first 15 minutes. But with that comes a cost, the cost of being reckless, probably not serving the community like you're supposed to and, even worse, that cost is possibly going to be possibly officers being shot. I refuse to do that on a sole barricaded gunman when I've got time on my side, and I've got more than enough tactics and resources in hopes to outlast him."
The city manager echoed Varney's viewpoint.
"I'm thankful we're not making funeral arrangements today as a result of the armed, barricaded individual who attempted to murder our police officers," said Greenwood Village City Manager Jim Sanderson.
After this story received some national attention, and the Greenwood Village police tactics subject to severe criticism, the city is now singing a slightly different tune, offering Lech and his renter and the neighbors some financial assistance.
The city said it will pay insurance deductibles for anyone from the surrounding homes in the 4200 block of Alton Street who suffered property damage during the 18-hour standoff that started Wednesday.
Greenwood Village had also offered to pay the homeowner, Leo Lech's, deductible and pay the tenant, Lech's son, until he can find new housing. The city offered the son $5,000 for temporary housing.
The media failed to tell the public that the suspect fired at police officers, was loaded down with drugs, had a very violent record and the judge didn't grant bail due to his record.
For those of you who think police suck... I hope you get robbed, beat stabbed and then call 911 to get help.
The only thing that sucks is the media who fail to report all of the info because it would be less sensational.
For those of you who blindly believe that everything reported is the truth are just a stupid as you sound.
No police department would do this operation with out serious cause.
Anon 1:08, actually virtually every media report mentioned that the police were fired upon as did I. But do you seriously believe it's okay to blow apart an innocent homeowner's house to get a suspect and then refuse to pay compensation to make the homeowner whole? That's the position Greenwood Village is taking.
Police officers have a very tough job and should be applauded for their efforts. That's doesn't mean in every instance that they make the right choices, including their leaders. In this case, very few police departments would have made the choice to do what Greenwood Village did in this case. It was reckless, foolish and not in the slightest bit responsible. The department and the City of Greenwood should be held accountable for their actions and pay the Lechs for every dime that they are out because of what the police department did.
4 comments:
The predictable result of militarizing local police forces.
Police are scum and an occupying military.
They are the lowest of the low.
There is nothing lower than a cop. Cops are America's disgrace.
You are all freaking ridiculous.
The media failed to tell the public that the suspect fired at police officers, was loaded down with drugs, had a very violent record and the judge didn't grant bail due to his record.
For those of you who think police suck... I hope you get robbed, beat stabbed and then call 911 to get help.
The only thing that sucks is the media who fail to report all of the info because it would be less sensational.
For those of you who blindly believe that everything reported is the truth are just a stupid as you sound.
No police department would do this operation with out serious cause.
Grow up.
Anon 1:08, actually virtually every media report mentioned that the police were fired upon as did I. But do you seriously believe it's okay to blow apart an innocent homeowner's house to get a suspect and then refuse to pay compensation to make the homeowner whole? That's the position Greenwood Village is taking.
Police officers have a very tough job and should be applauded for their efforts. That's doesn't mean in every instance that they make the right choices, including their leaders. In this case, very few police departments would have made the choice to do what Greenwood Village did in this case. It was reckless, foolish and not in the slightest bit responsible. The department and the City of Greenwood should be held accountable for their actions and pay the Lechs for every dime that they are out because of what the police department did.
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