POLICE DEFEND RAID THAT TOOK LETHAL TURN

No Drugs Were Found At Home Where Man Was Shot To Death

Denver police Tuesday defended a no-knock raid on a suspected crack
house in the face of neighbors' claims that cops may have hit the
wrong place.

However; a lawyer for the family of a man shot to death during the
Sept.29 raid said he is evaluating the case for a potential claim
against the city.

"In view of the new information, at this point, it's very confusing,"
said attorney Robert Maes.

SWAT officers shot and killed Ismael Mena, 45, during the raid at 3738
High St. Officers entered the one-family home around 2 p.m. shouting
"Policia!" Officers said they found Mena kneeling in a three-point
stance pointing a pistol and refusing to lower it.

Mena was shot eight times. An autopsy detected no narcotics and a
search of the house uncovered no drugs.

Neighbors said they often saw the home's residents walk and drive
around the block selling corn on the cob, strawberries, popsicles and
Spanish language cassettes.

Residents remembered that Mena and other residents often worked in the
evening doing cleaning and maintenance jobs.

"I thought they were very humble people," said neighbor David Alcucer,
37.

Several neighbors said they thought drug dealing was occurring in the
alley in between High and Race streets, based on pedestrian and
vehicle traffic.

Neighbors don't have the same information the police officer had" Sgt.
Tony Lombard said.

In requesting a search warrant, neighborhood police officer Joseph
Bini stated that a previously reliable informant using a marked $20
bill purchased a rock of cocaine from two men at the house.

The Denver district attorney's office said Monday that it is
investigating the warrant for irregularities.

As a result of the shooting, police have added an extra step of having
a supervisor check warrants.

Captain Vince DiManna, commander of Denver's SWAT officers said the
unit video taped and studied the house before entering.

DiManna said it is not unusual for a no-knock raid based on valid
information to come up empty.

He said officers involved in the unit are concerned about the
allegations that they might have hit the wrong house.

"We do everything we can to protect the officers and the innocent,"
DiManna said. "It raises our concern."