SFPD Officers Shatter Doors at West Oakland Apartments to Serve Warrant on Suspect Already In Custody

More than 20 San Francisco Police Department officers forced their way into Black Panther Apartments in West Oakland while serving a warrant connected to an 18-year-old robbery suspect who had already been detained outside the building. The complex owner and operator said the suspect did not live there and that officers knew he was not a resident. Video showed officers threatening to break down doors before smashing through the entrance. The owner said officers handcuffed a security guard on suspicion of obstruction before entering. The resident manager said officers arrived in plain clothes, refused to show security a warrant, and would not wait for her to come downstairs. Residents reported fear that the operation involved immigration agents, with some hiding and others walking through broken glass at the front door.

"More than 20 officers from the San Francisco Police Department forced their way into the Black Panther Apartments in West Oakland last Thursday afternoon while serving a warrant connected to an 18-year-old robbery suspect who had already been detained outside the building, according to former Black Panther Elaine Brown, who runs and owns the complex, in a statement on social media. Brown said the suspect did not live at the complex, and the police officers were aware he was not a resident there."

"Video obtained by the outlet shows officers threatening to break down the doors before smashing through the entrance. Brown says before officers busted into the building they handcuffed a security guard on suspicion of obstruction. The building's resident manager, Misty Cross, who's a former Moms 4 Housing activist, told KTVU that officers arrived in plain clothes, refused to show security officers a warrant, and would not wait for her to come downstairs before breaking through the building's glass entrance doors."

"Cross explained that some residents initially feared the operation involved federal immigration agents because of the officers' appearance and the way they approached the property. She said several residents hid inside the building while children were returning home from school. During this time, parents and children going in and out of the building had to walk through the smashed glass all over the floor at the front door, said Brown in her statement."

Read at sfist.com