SHARPTON CALLS ON MAYOR TO EXPLAIN BOTCHED RAID

NEW YORK (AP) - Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg should meet with community
leaders to explain the death of a Harlem woman after a botched police
raid, civil rights activist Al Sharpton said Sunday.

"This cannot end with an apology and an administrative report," said
Sharpton, who spoke in Bethany Baptist Church in Brooklyn. Sharpton,
who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, called the
death of Alberta Spruill early Friday "an outrage."

Spruill, 57, died of an apparent heart attack after police detonated a
flash grenade and handcuffed her by mistake during a raid. An
informant had identified her apartment as one used by a drug dealer to
stash cocaine and heroin, police said.

After realizing their mistake, police officers apologized to Spruill,
who said she had a heart condition, authorities said. An ambulance was
summoned after Spruill began to have difficulty breathing, but she
went into cardiac arrest on the way to a hospital.

Sharpton said he sent the Republican mayor a telegram Sunday and
expected to meet with him soon.