Plaintiff:
Carrie Warfield
Incident date:
06/27/2004
Location:
5331 W. Congress Parkway
Allegations:
Carrie Warfield was walking home with her cousin, Jennifer Warfield; Powell; and Mary and Jalessa Bonner. As they approached Carrie Warfield's house, the women heard several gunshots nearby. They ran to the house and banged on the door, hoping that Carrie Warfield's sister, Lagina Warfield, would open the door. While the women waited, a man who was bleeding from a gunshot wound in his leg ran up to them. Officers Chapman and Collier approached the group and began shooting. The man moved to block the women from the gunfire, taking several bullets in the chest. A bullet fired by the officers also hit a 13-year-old bystander. Carrie Warfield then cried out, “My baby, you shot my baby.” Although Carrie Warfield did not have a child with her, the trick worked, and the officers stopped firing and ran off. The women carried the man inside the house, and Carrie Warfield—not realizing that Chapman and Collier were police officers—called 911. Soon after, several police officers entered Carrie Warfield's house with guns drawn and forced everyone to the basement. They demanded the women produce a gun, and searched the women one at a time. The officers then told the group, including Lagina Warfield's 8-year-old son, to exit the house through the back door and go to a police station for questioning. At the station, the women were accused of lying about the incident and about not owning a gun. Jennifer Warfield, who was pregnant at the time, was not allowed to use the bathroom and urinated on herself. The officers also did not let Lagina Warfield go to work. The women were forced to stay at the station until the next morning. When they returned home, the house was in shambles: torn curtains, holes in the walls, the refrigerator tipped over, and the stove overturned.