NAACP WANTS POLICE INDICTED FOR FATAL LIMA RAID

Officers Asked To Come Forward

LIMA, Ohio - The Lima chapter of the NAACP yesterday called for the
indictment of all officers involved in the Jan. 4 raid of a biracial
woman's home during which she was shot and killed by a city police officer.

"If I commit a crime, and five of my friends are with me, I'm
getting charged, they're getting charged, bottom line," said Lima's
NAACP President Jason Upthegrove.

Tarika Wilson, 26, was shot twice, and her 1-year-old son was
wounded when the Lima Police Department's SWAT team raided her Third
Street home, using a "no-knock" search warrant.

Her boyfriend, Anthony Terry, was arrested on drug charges during
the raid, but no public explanation has been given describing how
Sgt. Joseph Chavalia came to fire his gun.

On Friday, state investigators said they had wrapped up their probe
of the incident and had presented a special prosecutor with their
report and evidence.

Mr. Upthegrove said that he hopes that the officers involved will
come forward publicly with information about what happened when Ms.
Wilson was killed, and that such information ultimately will lead to
indictments of those involved.

"This is an opportunity for them to show some courage," he said.

Sgt. Andy Green of the Lima police said that the department will
have no comment regarding the shooting until the investigation is
completed and the results made public.

Mr. Upthegrove said his organization has been unable to obtain the
high-risk search warrant that police used to make the raid.

He said that the judge who signed the warrant should not preside
over any trial relating to the case.

Although it was the NAACP making the request for more information
surrounding the shooting, Mr. Upthegrove said yesterday's event was
not about race.

"This has nothing to do with race. It wouldn't matter to me who she
was, it wouldn't matter to me where she came from, who her parents
were," he said. "It's a woman gunned down in her home."