RENTON, Wash. — Melinda De La Torre says her Renton home still bears the scars of the terrible night when a SWAT team riddled it with rockets and grenades loaded with pepper gas for four hours—looking for a man who wasn’t there.
The bombardment happened two years ago. Even after $100,000 in repairs, the old damage still seeps through walls.
“That's pepper spray oozing through the paint on the ceiling,” she said, pointing to a spot above her bed. “I’ve gone into debt to pay for all kinds of things, like windows, and there’s still damage that isn’t fixed. All I want is to be repaid for the damage they made, acting on a false claim. After two years, I’ve gotten no response,” she said.
KIRO 7 was on the scene in Renton on April 25, 2012, the night SWAT officers surrounded De La Torre’s home in a gated community, looking for De La Torre’s adult son, who was accused of an armed robbery. De La Torre arrived from work, and faced a barricade a block away. She didn’t know her home was surrounded until much later.
For four hours, SWAT officers from surrounding cities fired gas-filled grenades into every window and blasted down doors, demanding her son’s surrender. When the smoke cleared, officers found out he wasn’t inside, didn’t live there, and the person who accused him, recanted the accusation.
De La Torre was left homeless for months. “They completely destroyed my home, completely destroyed it."
She says a SWAT commander approached her, handed her a list of the chemicals deployed into her home, and gave her some advice. “He said ‘Well I’m sorry, you can just file a claim with the city. He said it so simply, like just go down and file."
De La Torre says after several months, her insurance carrier filed a claim to recoup their payout for the damages—which were limited by her policy. She says the claim was denied. KIRO 7 contacted the Washington Cities Insurance Authority—or WCIA, who said the SWAT team was not negligent, and that they acted reasonably, based on the information they had at the time.
De La Torre wrote personal letters of appeal showing more than $32,000 she borrowed to pay for repairs. “I have not gotten one reply," she said.
The WCIA told KIRO 7 De La Torre’s only option left is to lawyer-up and file a lawsuit. That’s something she wanted to avoid.
“I just want my money back,” she said. I’m not asking to be rich. I think it’s just to be paid the money I’m out. They were overzealous. Because of that, I shouldn't be put into in debt, period."
KIRO
