An Iowa woman says she’s afraid of police after they broke down the door and ransacked her Des Moines home.
Sally Prince says surveillance cameras were rolling when Ankeny Police executed a search warrant Thursday, January 30, 2013. Police were reportedly looking for someone they suspected of using stolen credit cards to buy about $1,000 worth of clothes and electronics, according to our sister station WHO-TV.
A spokesperson for Ankeny Police said they consider several factors when they determine what methods to use when serving a search warrant.
Police said one of the people for whom they were searching had an a record of previous arrests for assault and for domestic assault, and that another person connected to the warrant address had a permit to carry a weapon, WHO reported.
Prince’s son, Justin Ross, was recently honorably discharged from the Army and he is licensed to carry a firearm.
Prince and Ross say police did not knock before breaking down the front door of her home.
Surveillance video showed an officer pounding on the side of the home just before officers used a battering ram to force open the front door.
Video from the home’s surveillance cameras also appears to show a policeman disabling one camera, and another camera as it gets covered up.
Two people in the home were arrested for charges unrelated to the search warrant. Prince and her son said none of the items listed on the police warrant were found in her home.
“The police are supposed to protect and serve, not make you in fear of them,” Prince said, “And I’m totally terrified of them now.”