POLICE FORCE ENTRY INTO WRONG HOUSE

Gwinnett County police drug investigators on Wednesday served a
"no-knock" search warrant and forced entry into a Lawrenceville house,
but soon discovered they were at the wrong address.

In a news release, a Gwinnett police official said it was "a case of
human error and not deliberate malfeasance on the part of the
investigator."

The investigators intended to serve the search warrant at a home on
Valley Spring Drive in Lawrenceville about 9:15 a.m. One of the
investigators mistakenly pointed out a house nearby.

Once the officers forced entry into the house, they briefly detained a
male and female resident before determining they were in the wrong
place.

The search was immediately halted and no intrusive search was ever
executed, said police spokeswoman Cpl. Illana Spellman. A supervisor
came to the scene to further explain the situation and apologize to
the residents.

The department also is paying to repair their front door, Spellman
said.

"Everyone apologized extensively to them for the mistake," the
spokeswoman said. "It's a mistake on our part so we'll take the full
responsibility for that."

Spellman said she wasn't sure why confusion arose over the address.
The department did not release the name of the investigator at fault.

The front door was patched with a piece of wood Wednesday night, but
splinters still littered the front hallway of the home of John Louis,
38, and his girlfriend, Heather James, 37.

Louis said he was upstairs working from a home office when police used
a battering ram to break through the door. James and their 3-month-old
daughter were asleep in separate bedrooms.

"They came in here and put guns to us. The house was full of police,"
Louis said. "I've never had a gun in my face before. I've never even
held a gun."

He said that he and James, who was in a nightgown, were ordered at
gunpoint to lie on the floor. When he tried to ask what they wanted,
Louis said, he was told to "shut up."

After the officers roamed through the house for a few minutes, they
spotted the baby and realized their mistake, Louis said. He said they
apologized and told him they confused his home with that of a neighbor
two doors down, a suspected methamphetamine distributor.

Louis said he still has questions for police about how such a mistake
happened.

"If you had the house under surveillance for three months, why did you
come here?" Louis said. "You broke in here and put all our lives in
danger, and all you can say is you're sorry?"

After the snafu, officers went to the correct house and served the
search warrant, which was part of a three-month drug investigation
that police said is still ongoing.

[redacted], was arrested without incident, and $24,000 in cash
was seized. Pedruza is being held on related charges in the Gwinnett
County Jail.