A peaceful night eating dinner became an hours-long nightmare for Nelda Price and her husband.
Price was in her nightgown and her husband was in his pajamas when Fort Worth police officers “smashed in the doors of the residence and stormed into the house with guns drawn” on March 11, according to a lawsuit filed by Price on behalf of her and her late husband, John.
The two 69-year-olds, who are Black, were not given verbal warning before police busted through their front door, the lawsuit claims. They were zip-cuffed on their front yard for hours as officers ransacked their home, the suit says.
The filing claims that once the Prices were allowed to return to their home, it was destroyed. It claims a warrant was on a table, noting that officers were looking for methamphetamines, narcotics trafficking and anything pertaining to narcotics trafficking organization.
The warrant, obtained by CNN through Price’s attorney, authorized the police to enter without knocking and announcing themselves before entry. It also shows that no items were seized during the search of the Price home.
“In the days and weeks that followed, both Mr. and Mrs. Price suffered from progressively increasing stress, anxiety, and anguish over their experience,” the complaint read.
The Fort Worth Police Department has not commented on the purpose of the raid, despite repeated media inquiries by various news organizations, including requests from CNN regarding this lawsuit.
The raid on the Price home comes after a year of protests across the nation calling for police reform and an end to repeated police killings of Black and Brown people.
Officers never explained why the raid took place
Officers barged into the Prices home around 8 p.m., according to the complaint.
“Multiple officers of the Fort Worth Police pointed their guns at Mr. and Mrs. Price and shouted at them to get their hands in the air and commanded they walk toward them,” the complaint read.
As the couple was put into zip-cuffs, they were unable to change out of their nightwear.
“Fort Worth Police refused to let the Prices go into their own house to change clothes or removed them from public on-looker and neighbors, therefore subjecting them to shame and embarrassment,” according to the complaint.
During the raid, Nelda Price asked officers why they were raiding her home, but instead of providing answers officer just threw questions back at the couple, the complaint says.
“Officers then began to question both Mr. and Mrs. Price if they had any aliases, and if a Mexican boy brought a package to their home,” the complaint read, adding the couple denied the allegations.
John Price began feeling ill during this time, and although Mrs. Price “pleaded with Fort Worth Police officers to allow Mr. Price to take his prescribed blood pressure medication,” they ignored her requests and continued searching the home, the lawsuit states.
An officer eventually made an emergency call for medical help after taking his blood pressure, and he was treated by EMTs at the scene, according to the lawsuit. It also says they were not told why it was necessary for them to be handcuffed, “even as Mr. Price suffered a medical emergency.”
“At no point did any Fort Worth Police officers explain why Mr. and Mrs. Price were forced from their home at gunpoint or why it was necessary to detain Mr. and Mrs. Price in handcuffs even as Mr. Price was suffering a medical emergency,” the complaint read.
