Columbia family sues city over February SWAT raid

The family is seeking damages for the killing of their dog and damaged house.

By Steve Cassidy

Published Sept. 24, 2010

A Columbia family filed suit against the city of Columbia, the Columbia Police Department and several police officers Monday for damages related to a February SWAT raid at their home in which their dog was shot and killed.

The family's attorney Milt Harper said Jonathan and Brittany Whitworth are suing the city because police improperly executed a search warrant on their Columbia home.

In February, SWAT officers raided the Whitworth’s home in the 1500 block of Kinloch Court. According to a CPD news release, officers suspected the home contained large amounts of marijuana and drug paraphanelia. The news release stated officers found only drug paraphernalia and a small amount of marijuana residue.

The news release also stated officers shot and killed one of the family’s two dogs and wounded another.

According to the lawsuit, SWAT officers ordered Jonathan Whitworth to the ground, and his wife and their 7-year-old son were ordered to sit in the front entryway of their home.

According to the lawsuit, Brittany Whitworth and her son were in plain sight of the dog that had been killed.

“This undoubtedly caused major trauma to their 7-year-old son,” Harper said. “He had to witness his pet being murdered.”

The lawsuit accuses one of the SWAT team members of kicking Jonathan Whitworth.

Shortly after the raid, The Columbia Daily Tribune requested video of the raid taken by the SWAT team be released as a public record. The video was released and posted online after misdemeanor charges against Jonathan Whitworth were resolved.

More than 1 million people viewed video of the raid on YouTube, and the tape was featured on national news shows such as "The O’Reilly Factor."

“The outrage about the video was due to misconstrued information,” CPD spokeswoman Jessie Haden said. “People began to post it on YouTube and due to the poor quality of video, people imagined things they saw.”

Harper said the basis for the suit is the misconduct exhibited when executing the search warrant, but there are several other reasons for the suit.

“We are seeking a financial award for the damages caused to the Whitworth home, and the veterinary costs of the deceased pet,” he said.

CPD Chief Ken Burton issued a statement about the raid shortly after the video was released, saying the SWAT officers acted within the law, but waiting for days after obtaining a warrant and then using dynamic entry to serve it is unacceptable.

Harper said the department also never apologized to the family for killing the dog.

“The police department did not issue a statement, a call or apologize in any form for its actions,” Harper said. “They did not even acknowledge that they were inappropriate to fire shots into the Whitworth home. They’re lucky they didn’t shoot the child, or even one of their fellow officers.”

Haden said the department never apologized because the Whitworth family never filed a claim with the city.

“If they had come to the city asking for restitutions for damage to their home, veterinary bills and doctor bills for their child, all we would have had to do is clear it with (Chief Burton),” Haden said. “It is very likely that we probably would’ve paid for such nominal damages.”

The Citizens Police Review Board reviewed the case over the summer and decided not to take action. Haden said this was because the CPRB, while reviewing the case, voted 4-3 on multiple occasions that the officers’ actions were proper according to procedure.