It was probably another "D'oh!" moment for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs recently when it raided a house in Mustang.
According to a story in The Oklahoman, the bureau went to the home of Glenn and Terry Speck with a warrant for their nephew, Cory Davis. After hearing a rapping on the door (and officers rap with a very distinct kind of knock, according to our intern, Bucky), Terry rolled out of bed to answer. Let's just say they weren't there for tea.
The group, kitted out in black bulletproof vests, began a room-to-room search, the account states.
"I've never been that scared in my life," Mrs. Speck said. "I had no idea what was going on."
When apprised that these tip-of-the-spear guys were looking for Davis, Speck explained the dilemma: He was otherwise occupied.
"I told them he was already in prison," she said. "He'd been in custody since November."
See? D'oh!
Little did the bureau's Men in Black know they were being videotaped. Glenn Speck had installed some security cameras around his place after a series of break-ins, according to the story. And then he posted the video to YouTube under the title "American Citizens: You Have NO Rights Left! Oklahoma Jackbooted Police State Raid March 6, 2009."
"They ran around room to room doing their macho cop gun pointing thing even after being told nephew was in jail. They left with a 'sorry we woke you,'" his posting states.
That left the bureau with a little 'splaining to do.
"We try to make sure everything is as painless as possible," said Mark Woodward, the bureau's spokesman. "Sometimes innocent people are at the same place as suspected criminals."
Glenn Speck, however, puts the blame on the Canadian County District Attorney's office.
"This armed invasion of our privacy I fully blame on the DAs office. Why should a raid happen at my residence when the subject sought was already in custody? Ridiculous," he wrote on the YouTube page.
Stefanie Hampton, Canadian County assistant DA, pointed the finger back at the bureau. She explained that her office isn't the one that is supposed to know where the perp is living " that's the officers' job.
"It doesn't matter to us where the person is," Hampton said. "The only thing we need to know is if they were here and if we have enough information to file a criminal charge."
D'oh! all around.
