BOTCHED DRUG BUST UNRESOLVED

County Offered $1,100 For Door, But Property Owner Wants $10,000

Jennifer Switalski says it's outrageous that the Milwaukee County Sheriff's
Department busted down her door, albeit by mistake, and hasn't sent her a
check.

The county thinks it's outrageous that Switalski demanded $10,000 - for the
door damage and for "personal and emotional stress" - even though she
wasn't home when the SWAT team broke in.

So the parties are stuck in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, a full 2 1/2
years after the incident, with the next hearing in Switalski's lawsuit
still six months away.

The county clearly is at fault for its deputies breaking into the wrong
home, several Milwaukee lawyers said Thursday, but Switalski's chances of
collecting much money are slim.

"The tort system is not designed to provide a remedy for every wrong," said
Nathaniel Cade Jr., who mostly defends people who get sued.

"It's probably a silly suit. The woman should have taken her money and run."

Howard Eisenberg, dean of the Marquette University Law School, was more
sympathetic, if not more optimistic.

"I think people are entitled to their day in court," he said, adding, "This
could be a short day."

As part of a drug investigation, sheriff's deputies obtained a search
warrant for a home in the 300 block of N. 31st St. in the Merrill Park
neighborhood, on Milwaukee's west side. They showed up at Switalski's
duplex about 6:30 a.m. on Feb. 2, 1998.

No one answered a knock at the door, so the SWAT team smashed it open,
handcuffed Switalski's two tenants and threw them to the floor, as a crying
2-year-old girl watched in horror.

A few minutes later, the deputies realized that the house they really
wanted to search was three doors to the south.

Switalski, who lived in the upstairs unit but wasn't home at the time,
rushed to the duplex. She got an apology and a promise from Detective John
Hepp that the county would pay for the damage.

But Switalski felt she deserved more and filed a claim with the county for
$10,000. It was denied.

In February, the 26-year-old real estate agent filed her lawsuit, alleging
that she had lost rental income after her tenants moved out because of the
incident; she was embarrassed in front of her neighbors because deputies
had come to her duplex looking for drugs; and she suffered "lost sleep and
peace of mind," fearing that her home would again be broken into, either by
deputies or "other parties" seeking drugs.

"I was ready to have a nervous breakdown that day," Switalski said of the
incident in an interview this week. The mistake may have been honest, but
not excusable, she said.

"I'm not here to say police aren't here to serve and protect," said
Switalski, who has a criminal justice degree from the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee. "But get it right. Use a map."

There's no doubt the deputies had raided the wrong house, though they did
serve the search warrant at the right property later that morning, said
Louis Elder, the county attorney who is working the case.

But the county did try to make things right by offering Switalski $1,100,
based on an estimate she provided for the door repair, he said.

If anyone had the right to sue for emotional trauma, it would be the people
who were handcuffed, but they never did, Elder said. Switalski, he said,
has "grandiose ideas" if she thinks she can claim trauma but didn't even
witness the incident.

"If it happened to me, I would be upset, too," Elder said. "But the
taxpayers should not have to pay for hurt feelings because those deputies
inadvertently entered the wrong home."

Elder predicted that Judge Stanley Miller will dismiss Switalski's case
after Elder files additional court papers later this year. But even if the
case is dismissed, the county might pay for the door damages, he said.

Switalski's lawyer, Stephen Needham of Milwaukee, told the county at one
point that Switalski would drop her case for $5,000, but the county balked.
Perhaps a settlement for something around the actual damages of about
$1,100 could yet resolve the case.

Switalski said she is open to a settlement, but is still in the mood for a
fight, given that she's brought the case this far: "I'll take my chances,
because I think a jury will be in my favor."