Guest by post by Bob Unruh
This article originally appeared on WND.com
Cops were pursuing fugitive, but blew up printing company without catching suspect.
The Institute for Justice has begun working with the owner of a small business in North Hollywood that was blown up – destroyed – by SWAT officers in pursuit of a fugitive.
And after the print shop was destroyed, the suspect got away anyway.
The IJ reports the fight has erupted because the city of Los Angeles, whose officers destroyed Carlos Pena’s NoHo Printing and Graphics store, has refused to provide any compensation.
The catastrophe developed last year when an armed fugitive fleeing U.S. marshals threw Pena out of his store and then ran in to hide out.
“The marshals then initiated a standoff before a SWAT team from the Los Angeles Police Department arrived and fired more than 30 rounds of teargas into the business. Carlos—who waited in a nearby restaurant for 13 hours as his 31-year-old business was being destroyed—estimates that the raid caused more than $60,000 in damage,” the IJ said.
His insurance carrier refused compensation because “the government” caused the massive loss.
U.S. marshals also refused, because the damage was done by the LA officers.
The city also refused.
“I couldn’t believe it when I was told that I wouldn’t be paid for the damage. The business I had worked so hard to build was completely destroyed and I was left with the bill, even though I did nothing wrong,” he said.
The damage included holes in the doors, windows and ceiling, the destruction of all the machinery in the shop, and more.
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