CHICAGO — The Civilian Office of Police Accountability publicly released their report on the forced entry of Anjanette Young’s home in February of 2019.
After an extensive 18-month-long investigation, COPA found that at least half the officers involved should face consequences over what happened that night. This comes after Chicago Police Supt. David Brown recommended the firing of a sergeant involved in the wrongful home raid.
The report said the department’s failures in executing the warrant were preceded by “…the absence of required due diligence and supervision in the warrant’s acquisition.”
The report states Officer Alain Aporongao, who obtained the warrant, failed to properly verify the address of a known felon, given to him by a police informant. That led officers to the home of Young instead.
The report recommends Aporongao receive a minimum of a six-month suspension, but potential termination for him is on the table.
Termination is also a possibility for two sergeants involved in the botched raid — Alex Wolinski, whom Brown has already stated should be fired — and Cory Petracco. COPA is recommending a minimum of a one-year suspension for both.
The investigation raised nearly 100 allegations of misconduct against more than a dozen officers, some of whom, when questioned described having a lack of warrant-specific training. Many claimed they had largely learned about the process through informal conversations with more experienced officers.
It was also found that the tactical team burst into Young’s home that night only five seconds after announcing the search warrant — a move deemed unlawful and a violation of departmental policy.
Wolinski is accused of violating nearly a dozen rules in connection with the raid. Among them, he allegedly waited too long to present Young with a copy of the search warrant.
Young had just returned home from a night shift at Rush University Medical Center on Feb. 21, 2019 when she was getting undressed and ready for bed.
Young was handcuffed — while naked — approximately 15 seconds after the door was breached and covered with a blanket less than a minute later but not permitted to put clothes on for another 10 minutes. That was when she was escorted to a bedroom by Officer Ella French — who was recently killed in the line of duty during a traffic stop.
Young told the officers multiple times they were in the wrong home. Police had been looking for a suspect they believed had a gun, ammunition and a small number of drugs.
The COPA report also accused four officers of improper action during the detention of an unknown male suspect, outside young’s home. It says the officers improperly searched the man’s vehicle and failed to submit a report in that case.
Among the four officers named in the report is French. The report found French failed to timely activate her body camera and didn’t document the detention and search of the man. COPA recommended she be given a three-day suspension.
The report was submitted in October — two months after French’s death.
