DETECTIVES RAID WRONG VALLEY HOME

Innocent man, 72, is handcuffed after suspect is arrested in mobile
home drug raid

Detectives with the Spokane County Sheriff's Office entered the wrong
mobile home during a Spokane Valley drug raid Tuesday morning and
handcuffed an innocent bystander.

No one was injured in the 9:45 a.m. incident, but detectives were
offering apologies for the "major mistake" Tuesday night.

"We blew it, pure and simple," said a written statement from Sheriff
Mark Sterk.

Detectives with the sheriff's Investigative Support Unit went to the
Pinecroft Trailer Court, 11920 E. Mansfield, to arrest a man suspected
of manufacturing methamphetamine.

They found Elvin W. Hern, 69, standing near his trailer, and arrested
him without incident, said Cpl. Dave Reagan, a spokesman with the
Sheriff's Office.

The detectives then proceeded with the search warrant, entering what
they thought was Hern's mobile home through an unlocked door.

Inside was a 72-year-old man, whom detectives handcuffed and led
outside before realizing their mistake. The Sheriff's Office did not
identify the man who was inside the house.

"They went to the wrong place," Reagan said. "It's embarrassing and we
certainly don't want it to happen again."

The drug unit commander, Lt. Chan Bailey, said the lead investigator
in the raid had made several undercover purchases from Hern through a
confidential informant. The investigator would drive the informant to
the trailer court and watch as the informant walked a distance to
Hern's trailer.

But he never actually saw which trailer the informant was entering and
leaving, and videotaped the wrong house, Reagan said.

On Tuesday, investigators had the right address, but did not look at
the house number when they entered.

Reagan said the suspect had been parking between the two trailers,
making it even more difficult for detectives to make out precisely
which house the informant was entering.

"The potential for problems here was huge," Reagan
said.

As an example of how things can go bad, he cited a Sept. 17 incident
in Okanogan County where deputies busted into the wrong house and gave
the man a strong electric jolt with a Taser in front of his wife and
child.

On Tuesday, Reagan said, the door was unlocked, and detectives entered
without force.

"They didn't have to break down the door," he said.

The only damage was to a closet door, which had been knocked off a
track while investigators searched for other people in the house.

Reagan said the sheriff will be reviewing training and procedures
involving searches, including the role supervisors play in raids.

"This incident might not have occurred had it been observed by someone
who was overseeing the activity rather than involved and waiting to
rush the front door," Sterk said.