RIGHT RAID, WRONG RESIDENCE

Tactical Team Hits Neighboring House To Serve Drug Warrant

A Clarksville Police tactical team stormed the wrong house Friday
night while trying to execute a search warrant.

James Elliott and his friend Teresa Guiler live at 341-B Old Trenton
Road. Police were looking for 343-B.

"I thought they were going to kill me," said Elliott, who recently
received a liver transplant.

Guiler said he was taken to an emergency room afterward. Elliott, who
is deaf, said officers kicked him in the back while trying to secure
him.

"We are just too tired and too traumatized to answer any more
questions," Guiler said during a brief interview.

She said some time after 7:30 p.m. Elliott was downstairs watching
closed-caption football and she was upstairs watching television just
before the TACT team burst through the door.

Clarksville Police Chief Mark Smith was out of town Saturday and had
not reviewed reports of the incident.

"Apparently, they hit the wrong house," he said. "Thank God, nobody
got hurt."

Smith said the TACT team was serving a search warrant for drugs for
the department's Major Crimes Division, based on information from a
confidential informant.

"I hate it. I know Major Crimes hates it. We'll do whatever is
necessary to make it right," he said.

Smith said the tactical team, which serves about 95 percent of CPD's
drug warrants, receives extensive training about how to avoid entering
the wrong location.

"In this case, I understand the mailbox in the yard of the house had
the address that was on the warrant. I'm sure they drew the conclusion
it was the house," Smith said.

The chief said team members are trained when to use force and when not
to use force in such situations.

"The TACT team went into what they thought was a legitimate drug
house," he said. "They used the tactics to take control of the situation."

The search warrant was served at the correct house then and
drug-related contraband was seized, Smith said, but he didn't have
details. He made no mention of any arrests.

The chief said after assessing the reports on Monday, he will
determine if the incident should be further investigated by the
department's Professional Integrity Unit.

"It seems pretty cut and dry though," he said. "At the very least, we
owe this man an apology."

Smith said he would take the reports to the city's risk management
office and discuss repairs of damage caused.