Today I present to you a tale of misconduct so alarming that it must be told – even though it happened in the distant land of Chichester and not here in the ‘bronx:

My folks own a rental property over off of Route 4 that had been vacant for some time, but was leased to a fresh pair of tenants within the last month.  Apparently at 5AM this morning (06/18/09) a SWAT team pulled-up in black SUV’s with tinted windows and surrounded the house.  Brandishing assault rifles and wearing balaclava-type ski masks and bullet-proof vests, they demanded to search the residence – which they did.  After searching the house and finding nothing or nobody, they admitted that they had the wrong home and proceeded to scold and blame the tenant for not having the house clearly numbered.  Then as quickly as they came, they left without even providing identification.

An inquiry to the Chichester Police turned-up empty, as did a call to the State Troopers.  In fact, the Chief of Police in Chichester speculated that the tenant had fabricated the event, because if anything went down in his town he would be the first to know about it.  I suppose the idea of criminals posing as police to commit a home invasion must not have occurred to him…typical cop mentality to always blame the victim.

The next call was made to the Governor’s Office, where a State Police Sergeant offered to look into it and call us back – which he did.  Indeed a hybrid SWAT team consisting of the Manchester Police, DEA and Federal Marshals had been to our property that morning.  Indeed they had raided the wrong house, and because they needed to act quickly they didn’t even have a warrant.  Allegedly they were performing a massive sweep in which they were attempting to round-up some hostiles and show them some justice.  Instead they woke-up an elderly French-Canadian couple, took a grande toure of their chateau, chatted about street numbers at gun point, and then shirked off any culpability as they retreated into the embarrassing fog of dawn.

This event serves as a reminder of the covert police state that lies shallowly beneath our smiley facade.  It is an example of an individual’s civil and property rights being violated.  It also illustrates the powerful overreaching hand of Uncle Sam, and raises issues of State and Local jurisdiction and notification.  Plus, those cops really look like a bunch of chuckleheads!  It’s not like it is even dark at 5AM this time of year!  If you slept thru your orienteering class, use a GPS or stop at 7-11 and ask for directions!  And then to blame the tenant because they couldn’t see the house number, all in order to justify their mishap? 

These are the uncensored outtakes from America’s Most Wanted that John Walsh doesn’t want you to see…