Durango woman gets $35,000 for mistaken raid

by Shane Benjamin
Herald Staff Writer
Article Last Updated; Saturday, June 27, 2009

An out-of-court settlement has been reached in a lawsuit between the La Plata County Sheriff's Office and a woman whose house was mistakenly raided in 2007 by the Southwest Drug Task Force.

According to the settlement, Virginia Herrick received $35,000 from the county's insurance carrier. Details of the settlement were released this week by the county at the request of The Durango Herald.

Herrick's son, David Herrick, declined to comment Friday about the settlement.

Sheriff Duke Schirard also declined to comment.

Herrick, who was 77 at the time and on supplemental oxygen, was watching "The Price is Right" on June 8, 2007, when several law-enforcement officials barged into her mobile home with guns drawn and ordered her to the floor.

The Southwest Drug Task Force had a search warrant for 82 Hidden Lane in Durango West I, but mistakenly raided Herrick's home at 74 Hidden Lane.

Task force members handcuffed Herrick and searched her home before they realized their mistake. They then went next door and busted the right house and captured $51,520 worth of methamphetamine, according to the sheriff's office.

The raid was videotaped by the sheriff's office, but the video was destroyed as a condition of the court settlement to prevent it from resurfacing and potentially embarrassing Herrick.

Durango lawyer Michael Mc-Lachlan, who represented Herrick, said it was best to settle the case out of court because it was a civil-rights lawsuit that could have been moved to federal court, which would have required Herrick to make trips to Denver.

"We thought it was in the best interest of Mrs. Herrick to get the case resolved ... and she agreed to it. That's the number one thing," McLachlan said.

It was the third time the Southwest Drug Task Force has been sued for either excessive force, illegal police conduct or searching the wrong person or property, McLachlan said.

He cited a general lack of supervision by the sheriff's office as a possible reason for the alleged misconduct by the task force.

shane@durangoherald.com

He cited a general lack of supervision by the sheriff's office as a possible reason for the alleged misconduct by the task force.

It was the third time the Southwest Drug Task Force has been sued for either excessive force, illegal police conduct or searching the wrong person or property, McLachlan said.

In other words, once each? That's very deceptive wording, kind of like me saying, "Honey, this is the third night in a row we've had chicken, pork or beef!"