WE GOT THE WRONG ADDRESS: TORONTO COPS

Toronto police admit they got the wrong address when they raided an
east Hamilton apartment this week and encountered a hysterical Sharon
McCrudden.

Officers entered the 68-year-old woman's 14th floor Melvin Avenue
apartment Tuesday morning as part of a nationwide sweep of suspected
drug dealers and gang members.

"That was an incorrect address," Constable Tony Vella said Friday. "It
was actually the next-door neighbour."

He said officers visited McCrudden Friday to speak to her and dropped
off documents outlining how reimbursements can be sought for damage.

Vella couldn't say how it happened, but it was the only incorrect
address in the raid that involved 900 police officers across Canada.

Police raided three Hamilton addresses in the Project Marvel sweep.
Roxborough Avenue resident Pamela Markland has raised questions around
why she and her children were caught up in it. A search warrant
indicates police were looking for a 19-year-old man, Chermar Gardner,
but Markland and her family said they did not recognize the name.

Vella couldn't say if police apologized to McCrudden, but said she can
always file a complaint with the Toronto service.

McCrudden said she was home sick in bed Friday and did not speak to
any police officers. She suspects documents outlining how she can
apply to police to cover having her door replaced were left with the
building superintendent.

Even if they did apologize, it wouldn't make any difference. She plans
to explore her legal options relating to the disturbance.

"I am getting a lawyer," said McCrudden, who works as a security
guard. "I've been so stressed out I didn't go to work today."

McCrudden said she was awake at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday when she heard three
loud bangs at her door. She says she heard another bang as two police
officers entered her bedroom.

She said the officers presented her with a warrant as she sat crying
on the edge of her bed, and they left after "a ruckus out in the
hallway" led to the realization the warrant was for the vacant
apartment next to her unit.

Markland, a single mother of eight, said she is still waiting for
answers. She has not heard from Toronto police since they left her
townhouse Tuesday at about 5:30 a.m.

She is adamant neither she nor any of her children have ever met, know
or are even aware of Chermar Gardner. The Toronto man is facing at
least 49 charges, police said.

Markland also says she was forced to contact the office of Hamilton
East-Stoney Creek MP Paul Miller when CityHousing Hamilton told her it
was the police's responsibility to fix her front door after it was
ripped off its hinges in the raid. CityHousing had someone fix the
door later in the day.

No one was arrested, and no weapons were found, in any of the three
raids conducted in Hamilton.

Hamilton Police Chief Glenn De Caire said Friday his service became
aware of the Melvin Avenue incident on Thursday and has provided all
its reports and information on the execution of that warrant to
Toronto police.

"Toronto is the lead agency (on Project Marvel) and our service was
asked to provide assistance," he said.

De Caire said he expects Hamilton and Toronto police "will be in
communication" about the project, but it would be up to Toronto to
address any issues that arise from it.

Toronto police say 43 people were charged in the raid and officers
seized $110,000 in Canadian currency, 27 firearms, 332 grams of pot
and 32 grams of MDMA, which is used to produce ecstasy.

Meanwhile, Markland and six of her children - including her 9-year-old
autistic son - are staying in a Hamilton hotel because she says they
"are fearful" about returning home, even to get their possessions. She
fears whoever police were looking for may think she knows something
and show up at her door.

Markland also says her children have been traumatized by the raid,
guns and tear gas and are unable to sleep there.

She has taken the younger children to see counsellors provided by The
Good Shepherd organization and has also asked for help to find new
housing.

The home next door to the Marklands, with a family of five, was also
targeted in Project Marvel. At that house, an 18-year-old who didn't
want his name published said he doesn't know why his home was raided.
He and his brother were asleep when police busted down the front door.
He thought people were fighting downstairs.