Two women have filed a lawsuit against the city of Chicago and the Chicago police department after their home was mistakenly raided during a child’s birthday party.
On Feb. 10, the home of Kiqiana Jackson and Stephanie Bures was raided while their family was celebrating the birthday of a four-year-old boy. The home is located on the 7700 block of Paulina Street in Auburn Gresham, where at least a dozen police showed up with their guns drawn that Sunday night. Bures, who is the mother of the birthday boy, Tj, said they were horrified. “Can you imagine sitting, playing games with other kids and guns pointed at them?” Bures said about her son’s birthday party.
What makes matters worse is the person police were looking for moved out of that home several years ago. Police wanted the man because he had been holding and selling ecstasy, according to the search warrant. Showing their rights as a citizen, both Bures and Jackson asked the police to see a search warrant, but they were denied. The police said they were from Skokie, and refused to give them their names or badge numbers. “I reached for my phone and then I was tackled…I was handcuffed,” Jackson said.
“Our children in Auburn Gresham face enough trauma every day just trying to grow up in Chicago,” the Rev. Michael Pfleger said. Bures explained that since the incident her children have experienced sleep issues, nightmares, and are afraid to leave the house. The children also feared they would be shot the night of the birthday party.
It’s been a month since the women’s attorney made FOIA requests for any dash cam video, body camera footage or any other information connected to the raid. The attorney has yet to hear back; he believes the police were not wearing body cams, which is required by law. Chicago police have not responded to comment requests.
