SARALAND TO PAY UP FOR DRUG RAID GOOF

City's officers had kicked in the wrong door while executing search warrant

Eight months after Saraland drug agents kicked down the wrong duplex door,
the Saraland City Council agreed to pay to replace it. In January, Saraland
officers who belong to the Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team -- a drug
investigation group also made up of officers from Chickasaw, Creola and
Satsuma -- followed a fresh lead to a house in south Mobile, said Saraland
Public Safety Director Trey Oliver.

The duplex doors were side by side and it was unclear which door was the
correct target, he said. The officers booted down one door, only to find a
vacant unit, Oliver said. They then kicked in the adjacent door, where they
arrested at least one suspect, he said.

The suspect's name was unavailable Thursday. Oliver said he thought the
suspect might be cooperating with investigators, and therefore he could not
yet release his or her name. Also unknown Thursday was whether the mistake
gave the suspects time to destroy evidence.

"To my knowledge this is the only time this has happened," Oliver said.
"We've executed dozens and dozens of search warrants. From what I'm told it
was a very easy mistake to make."

The City Council agreed Thursday to pay $718 to duplex owner Vera
Shamburger.

Oliver said investigators sometimes go to other cities when pursuing the
source of drugs and when it seems unlikely the police in that city would
pursue the case. They notify the local police department. The Mobile Police
Department is inundated with cases, he said.

In other action, the council: Agreed to pay a $5,000 deductible to settle a
lawsuit with a resident who had sued the city in 2001 for $1.1 million.
Pearlie Phillips claimed the city caused flooding on her property by
allowing development that diverted stormwater onto her land and devised an
inadequate drainage system and failed to maintain it.

Attorney Mark Everest, who represented the city, said the settlement means
Phillips will get some combination of drainage work and a cash payment of up
to $50,000.

Agreed to pay $217 to driver Lisa Duke, whose side mirror was knocked off
when she drove too close to an improperly placed city sign. The sign,
warning motorists of a death in a nearby household, had been moved to the
middle of the road, council members said.