Mother and 4 children terrified during late night police raid on wrong apartment

Jessica Walker’s splintered door. (Source: KERO)

BAKERSFIELD, CA — An innocent family was terrified when their home was invaded by militarized police officers who had targeted the wrong apartment.  After the door was splintered with a battering ram, 4 young children were forced forced to watch as their half-naked mother was helplessly bound on the floor by armed strangers.

The fright came late in the evening on Saturday, April 19th.  After Jessica Walker put her four children to bed, she prepared to take a bath around 11:00 p.m.

“I was in there getting undressed in the tub when my dog started to bark,” said the young mother.

That’s when crashing sounds were heard from the front door of the apartment.   An unidentified hostile force ripped off the barred steel security door and then used a battering ram to breach through the wooden entrance door.

Ms. Walker was half-nude when she was confronted by the armed home-invaders.  Shocked and frightened, she tried to cover her bare chest with her hands.  Even that attempt at dignity was not tolerated by the strange men.

“They were right there telling me, ‘Come down with your hands up, get down!’ and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, what’s going on.’ My, uh, area was out,” explained Walker.

Jessica Walker describes how she tried to cover herself but was then told to "put her hands up."  

(Source: KERO) 

She was then forced to the ground in submission and handcuffed.  

Her children, awakened by the commotion, saw their mother being bound while half-naked on the floor.

“They were screaming. They were screaming, ‘No, mom, no!’ And they were afraid,” Walker told ABC affiliate KERO.

Finally it was evident that the men, who were from the Bakersfield Police Department, had not found what they were looking for. 

They showed Ms. Walker a photograph and asked her if she recognized the man.  She identified him as a man who lived in a neighboring apartment.

Cops hadn’t misread the warrant, the warrant itself was flawed. The address that was printed on the document and approved by the judge belonged to Walker and her family — not the suspect.  An innocent family was traumatized and endangered because of poor planning and faulty intelligence.

Bakersfield Officer M. Malley (Badge #1046) signed the warrant and swore to its accuracy.  Not only did he request to raid the the wrong address, he made a point to request that it be done at night.

Ms. Walker says she is “very angry” and says that her children are having nightmares because of the incident, and may need therapy.

No-knock raids are performed thousands of times per year in the United States.  These tactics are designed to make the entrance of police officers to be a surprise and indiscernible from a criminal home invasion.  When a confused homeowner makes the mistake of trying to defend his family, tragedy often results.  Given the fact that police raid homes over non-violent offenses and frequently get the address wrong, it is fair to say that all Americans have something to fear with these overused, irresponsible police tactics.