The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
City Council investigates police raids
Annas reprimanded for minor irregularities
By Dan Duchene, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: May 3, 2007
Ypsilanti police officers were cleared of any wrongdoing in a recent investigation into allegations of illegal search and seizures from city residents.
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City Manager Ed Koryzno requested the investigation after allegations surfaced last fall.
At the meetings, Ypsilanti resident Lee Tooson said police had conducted a series of drug raids on Oct. 19 without issuing warrants or submitting tabulation forms, which totals all evidence taken during a search. Additionally, Tooson said police had stolen a $20 bill from one of the homeowners.
John Barr, Ypsilanti's city attorney, hired Allan Houghton, a retired state police detective, to conduct the investigation on Jan. 17. Houghton spent more than 40 hours interviewing 20 people. The city spent $2,000 on the report, which was fished on April 6 and released by the city attorney on April 19.
"Search warrants had been issued by the court prior to the raids," Houghton said in his report. "The reason for the problem was miscommunication."
The report said the officer in charge of the raids, Lt. Craig Annas, had asked another officer if he had the "paperwork." The second officer said he had, assuming Annas meant the tabulation forms.
"He thought the officer in charge had the search warrants," the report said. "He did not."
The report said Matt Harshberger, Ypsilanti's chief of police, had contacted the county prosecutor about the matter. Houghton said the county had cleared the department's error.
"Although there were some minor irregularities, the raids were legal and the evidence seized was admissible," the report said.
After the mistake was discovered, Harshberger said Annas was verbally reprimanded for his error.
Because no one had witnessed a police officer actually take any money from the house, the report said there was no evidence money had been taken. According to the report, a resident of the home saw an officer take the $20 bill and place it on the kitchen table. However, no one had witnessed the money leave the house.
Harshberger said the witness had an arrest warrant and was taken outside for processing. Therefore, the witness could not see the $20 bill get placed back in the bedroom. He said the bill had to be checked to see if it had been used in a drug buy. After determining the money was clean, he said the bill was placed back in the bedroom.
"We don't know what happened to that $20," Harshberger said. "We suspect that someone from inside took it."
Harshberger said the report confirmed the quality of the police department, and helped to dispel other unsubstantiated rumors.
He said the mistake was an administrative rule violation, not a criminal violation.
In his report, Houghton said other issues had been brought up. He said Tooson had charged Annas of committing police brutality. Additionally, he said Councilwoman Lois Richardson, D-1st Ward, said she had heard of Annas dropping dope, or placing drugs on a person to make an arrest.
"I felt like I had opened a Pandora's Box," Houghton said in his report. "The more people I spoke with, the more incidents surfaced.
"If I were to follow up on every rumor or claim made against officers of the Ypsilanti Police Department, both past and present, it would be a full time job," he said. "It is conceivable that some of the rumors may be true."
Because the information had been from a third or fourth party, however, and because it didn't relate directly to his task, which was to investigate any issues brought up by Tooson and Richardson, Houghton said there was no reason to look more into the other issues.
"Rumors have plagued some Ypsilanti officers, past and present, over the years," the report said. "Some of them have been addressed years ago and some have not.
"Unfortunately, if not addressed immediately, the more the stories are told, the more they become the truth," he said.
After reviewing the report, Tooson said he wasn't satisfied with Houghton's investigation or findings.
"This is a continuous effort to cover up the dirt that Craig Annas does," he said. "Under the law, if your going to raid my house, you have to have a search warrant."
Harshberger said that isn't always the case, especially with a drug raid.
"With a drug raid, the police officers do not necessarily have to knock and announce any more," he said. "You go in and you secure the residence first."
After Richardson reviewed the report, she said it was time for the city to move on.
"This was in no way a witch hunt or is it to be misconstrued as a personal attack," Richardson said. "Hopefully, in the future conduct from all of our officers will be exemplary and there will be no need for complaints to be made."
Ypsilanti Mayor Paul Schreiber also said he felt closure with the report.
"There wasn't any real hard and fast evidence," he said. "Hopefully this will be able to sift out other complaints in the future.
"I think it was good that we did this investigation," Schreiber said. "But, I don't look forward to spending more money on investigations that come up with the same conclusion."
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