Tuesday, May 18, 1999
Police raid challenged
Residents: Cops were looking for man already in jail
BY JANICE MORSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — The air-conditioner was humming inside 922 Vine St., where Mark Biroschak, his wife and two young granddaughters were asleep early Monday. Its sound, they said, apparently drowned out a police bullhorn's warning that officers were about to storm the residence.
“We heard nothing. No warning, not even a knock. If we had, we would've let them inside,” said Mr. Biroschak, 43. “Instead, the way we woke up, we thought it was terrorists. It was a hell of a rude awakening.”
Mr. Biroschak and his wife, Mary, said that federal and local officers swarmed their home around 5:30 a.m., break ing windows, damaging the front door and firing what sounded like gunshots. The couple's granddaughters, ages 3 and 6, were terrified and crying.
Officers shot Mack, the family dog, to death, after the 135-pound bull mastiff leaped to the ground from a second-floor window, the Biroschaks and witnesses said. Two officers also were hurt, including a Hamilton officer whose arm was seriously cut on broken window glass. (Details on the second injury were unclear, officials said.)
The Biroschaks say police apparently were looking for Mrs. Biroschak's 27-year-old son, Joe Blankenship — but he was locked up already.
“After they tore everything up, they asked me where my son was,” Mrs. Biroschak said. “I told them he was in jail.” The Biroschaks said police confiscated a small amount of marijuana and about $600 in cash.
William E. Hunt, an assistant U.S. attorney, said he didn't know whether officers fired gunshots or “flash-bangs,” explosive charges police may use to startle suspects. He said officers “were looking for evidence of a crime,” not necessarily a specific person. He would not comment further.
Butler County Jail records show Mr. Blankenship had been held on a probation violation from April 28 until his release around 9 a.m. Monday.
Mr. Blankenship and five other defendants, all facing federal charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, appeared in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati on Monday. The suspects, who were apparently arrested Monday in several other locations, were ordered held until a bond hearing Thursday. Officials would not reveal how many communities were involved in the apparent multilocation drug sweep, and federal records about it were under seal.
The Biroschaks were given a copy of a search warrant authorizing police to scour their residence. But the document doesn't say what items officers were seeking. It says, “see attached affidavit” for that description.
No affidavit was given to Mr. Biroschak, said his sister, Linda Good. Ms. Good said she was having trouble obtaining the document from federal authorities.
The unspecified scope of the search — and the whole scenario — concerns Scott Greenwood, a Cincinnati constitutional rights lawyer who serves as general counsel to the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio.
“Whenever you have a warrant that lacks something as basic as the description of the contents to be searched for or seized, it immediately calls into question whether the warrant is invalid” on its face, he said. “The circumstances surrounding this search and seizure are very problematic. It does make an exceptionally scary situation for the people involved.”
Ben Kaufman contributed to this report.
A trusted ear best defense for schools?
Fountain barricade coming down
Indian activist asks Anderson to drop 'Redskin'
Police raid challenged
Suspect 'on the run all his life'
Baby, rescued from trash can, dies after 5 months
Dropout rate climbs in Ohio, Ky.
Reds, county near lease
Spanish-language paper launched
Kentucky experiments in electronic education
New center at airport to train pilots
Ohio censors license plates
Road-rage driver may go back to jail
Sexual abuser gets lighter sentence because boy's mother loves him
Lilith Fair collections catch spirit
'Phantom Menace' more than a movie
GET TO IT
Athletes' grades high, district says school says
Bellevue will renovate bridge
Big dreams for Lawrenceburg
Butler Co. finds some park money
Clinton Memorial plans to grow
Cost-cutting may reduce test sites for Walnut Hills
County sees worth of extra sewer work
East-siders protest jail site
Embezzler's sentence suspended
Mason hires Herman's Hermits
New gateway signs beckon visitors
Newport may find new uses for its old pools
Public views sought on jail
Tornado's victims get help from kids' choir
TRISTATE DIGEST
Two resign at Children Services
Winburn expands plan for Over-the-Rhine housing
Woodlawn lands Trane center
Y pool to open despite damage
