OFFICER, CITY SUED IN DRUG RAID

Allegations of false entry into Dallas house are denied by lawyers

A federal civil rights lawsuit has been filed against the city of Dallas
and a police narcotics officer, accusing the officer of conspiring with
informants to frame innocent people on drug charges.

L. Dwaine Lord filed the civil lawsuit Friday against Officer David Larsen,
an informant who worked for the officer and the city, seeking damages for a
Jan. 11 raid by police on his home that uncovered no drugs.

Officer Larsen's attorney described the allegations as "all bunk."

"Let's put it this way," said attorney Bob Baskett after reading the
16-page complaint. "The factual allegations in there are untrue."

The lawsuit's allegations could not be independently verified Friday.

Two drug cases filed by Officer Larsen are among dozens that were dismissed
by the Dallas County district attorney after laboratory analysis showed
that evidence did not contain illegal substances. Mr. Lord's attorney,
Douglas Larson, said that the allegations were based almost entirely on the
testimony of Mr. Lord and what he said the two informants told him.

Mr. Larson, the attorney, said he believed his client's account and those
of the two informants.

"This is not something new. It's on the street, everybody knows," said Mr.
Larson, who is not related to Officer Larsen.

Mr. Lord said in the lawsuit that the officer falsely claimed in a sworn
search-warrant affidavit that Officer Larsen and his informants had seen
heroin inside his home while posing as drug dealers during an early January
visit. The affidavit led to a "forced entry" police raid on Jan. 11.

Two Dallas Police Department narcotics officers, Senior Cpl. Mark Delapaz
and Officer Eddie Herrera, are on administrative leave while the FBI
investigates the fake drug cases. The two officers also have been sued in
federal court for alleged civil rights violations. Two confidential
informants used by the officers have pleaded guilty to federal civil rights
charges of planting fake drugs on innocent people.

Cpl. Delapaz and Officer Herrera were not involved in the incident leading
to Mr. Lord's lawsuit.

A Dallas man earlier this year also filed a civil rights lawsuit against
Officer Larsen and Cpl. Delapaz.

Victor Alvarado DeLeons said in the suit he was wrongly arrested on drug
charges.