MAN SAYS AURORA NO-KNOCK WARRANT HAD WRONG INFO

Feb. 11 - AURORA - An East Colfax pawnshop owner claims he was
unnecessarily roughed up by Aurora police officers during a "no-knock"
drug raid on a basement apartment below his shop.

The owner, Stuart Coapland, also said he believes the immediate-entry
search warrant for the Jan. 8 raid was flawed, and police should not
have entered the door based on information on the warrant.

"The address is wrong. The name of the store is wrong," said Coapland,
whose shoulder was broken in the raid. "And I'm the only one hurt."

Coapland's store, Arapahoe Pawn, is located at 9709 E. Colfax Ave. The
warrant was for Aurora Pawn at 9707 E. Colfax. Aurora Pawn is located
on South Parker Road.

Aurora police, however, said they are confident the no-knock warrant
would hold up in court. A state statute requires only that an officer
unfamiliar with the case could find the correct location based on the
information in the warrant, said Detective Fran Gomez.

Officers entered the correct door, despite the misinformation on the
warrant, because vice officers had supplied videotaped surveillance of
the location.

"It's unfortunate someone not involved in the warrant got hurt, but we
got the right location," Gomez said. "The officers were 100 percent
sure they were going in the right door."

Coapland said he has received an apology from the Aurora police
chief's office, and the city has offered to pay his medical bills. He
is contemplating his legal options.

Coapland's charge comes at a time of controversy over no-knock
warrants in neighboring Denver because of a raid on a wrong house. The
occupant, Ismael Mena, was killed by police. In this case, Aurora
officers were looking for methamphetamine in the apartment, which
Coapland owns.

The suspect being sought, Alden Dunham, 23, was the boyfriend of the
tenant. Dunham has an extensive criminal history is considered armed
and dangerous, Gomez said.

SWAT officers standing guard at the door were told by an unidentified
narcotics officer that the suspect, Dunham, was returning to the
apartment just 10 minutes before Coapland arrived, according to a
police report. They were understandably cautious, Gomez said.

Coapland says he was awakened by a report of an alarm at his store at
12:45 a.m. on Jan. 8. His security company called police but declined
to check out the alarm because of previous false alarms.

After a second alarm went off around 1:20 a.m., Coapland decided to
check on the shop himself. When Coapland arrived, he found the lock on
a door leading to the store and apartment had been blown open. No
police cars were in sight.

As he examined the door, it opened outward, Coapland said. He backed
up, and several men dressed all in black charged out.

"They said, "Who are you?' I said, "Well, who are you?' " Coapland
said. "Before I had a chance to think I was on the ground." One
officer took Coapland to the ground in the icy alley. Coapland said
the officer twisted his arm behind his back, causing it to pop.

"I was yelling, "I'm the store owner!' " he said. "When it popped, I
started to lose consciousness because the pain was
excruciating."

After determining that Coapland was not the suspect, officers called
an ambulance.

Coapland was treated for a broken shoulder, an injury that may yet
require surgery and months of rehabilitation.

Police said they found methamphetamine in the apartment. Dunham is
still at large.

Coapland sometimes carries a gun for protection but said he's glad he
wasn't armed that night.

"If I was, I probably wouldn't be standing here today," he said.