CHARLOTTE — The public is getting a first look at police body camera footage from a controversial Charlotte-Mecklenburg police raid at a home in east Charlotte last summer.
On July 11, 2020, police showed up with a search warrant at a house on Andora Drive in east Charlotte.
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They were looking for a man wanted in a violent attack days earlier. That suspect, Trey McClendon, didn’t live at the home and wasn’t there during the CMPD search.
The homeowner told Channel 9 that by the time the SWAT team left, her house was in shambles, and that the family had to eventually move out because of the damage.
On Friday, CMPD said that as a result of a petition for its release, a Superior Court judge has reviewed and authorized CMPD to release the SWAT team’s body worn camera recordings from that day.
In the video, an officer with a K-9 can be seen circling the back of the house, another officer can be seen with a gun drawn and on a loudspeaker, and police are heard calling for McClendon to come out of the house.
“This is CMPD. Anybody inside the residence, 6550 Andora Drive, come to the front door, keep your hands up, have nothing in your hands,” Police said in the footage. “Trey McClendon, this is CMPD. We know you’re inside. Come to the front door. Keep your hands up. Have nothing in your hands.”
That day, neighbors had tipped police off that McClendon was visiting the house. He was wanted on several felony warrants.
The London family rented the home and was not there at the time. Their attorney, Dominique Camm, said the videos released are only the publicly-released body camera footage.
“This is unreasonable based on the fact that it was from 6 (p.m.) to about 3 a.m.,” Camm said.
For four hours, officers called for McClendon to come outside. The London family eventually arrived home and offered a key to the officers. In some of the videos, the family can be heard growing more frustrated.
“Everybody that lives there is outside with you guys, so if you guys got to go in, we gave somebody the key, so you can go in to handle your business so we can get 50 cars out of here, because he’s not in there. I’m pretty sure wherever you all live at, you all don’t have 50,000 cops outside. This is only in our area,” said a man who lived in the house.
Their attorney said McClendon was a friend of one of their sons, but they hadn’t seen him in some time. Still, officers continued to call for him to come outside.
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The officer in the video told the man who lives there that they were working to obtain a search warrant.
“Once they get that search warrant and we have the key, there’s no need to break the door, there’s no need to damage the window,” the officer said.
Eventually, flash bangs can be heard, and police using gas and SWAT devices trying to get the suspect to come outside.
After many hours, officers knocked on the door and then entered the house, calling for the suspect. Police can be seen entering the attic, what they call a “common hiding place.” However, McClendon was nowhere to be found.
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In a news conference on Friday, police said damage like this is not uncommon.
“Our methods take time and, in some instances, may result in property damage, but that is reasonable when we look at the increase in safety and the peaceful surrenders our team produces. Just a month ago we de-escalated multiple armed suspect encounters. I believe our tactics and track record show that our methods save lives,” said Capt. Jonathan Thomas with Special Services.
Police said no policies were violated during the operation.
Channel 9 asked police what went wrong, since McClendon wasn’t there.
“The patrol officers may not have had the permittee as tight upon initial,” CMPD said.
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“I do think they need to own that, when you talk about how many officers were deployed, how long they were deployed and they’re on the clock, well, people are not able to enter to their homes or sleep. It’s all the same that are happening. They made a mistake based on false information that they did not take the time to verify,” Camm said.
CMPD released 101 videos Friday, based off a request Camm made back in September. He said he wasn’t notified the videos would be released until 11:30 a.m., and wasn’t aware CMPD would hold a news conference.
“That’s part of them controlling the narrative,” Camm said.
He said the London family has not been able to view the videos yet either. He said their life was turned upside-down by the raid, and they are still picking up the pieces.
“They did not go back to their home. They had to move the next day. The tear gas and pepper spray were so thick they threw out all of their belongings and had to restart based on the kind of the communities to a very unfortunate situation,” Camm said.
Channel 9 also asked police if the city paid for damages to the house. They said the family made a claim through the city’s risk management department, but couldn’t say if any money has been issued just yet.
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