FBI raid prompts family to sue
Marie McBean, clad only in a nightgown, was confronted by FBI agents and forced from her home at gunpoint with her arms raised in the air. The 59-year-old woman is suing for false imprisonment and invasion of privacy.
BY DAN CHRISTENSEN
Miami Herald, FL
Ta'shika Randle was 13, developmentally disabled and fast asleep when the FBI arrived at her Fort Lauderdale home early one morning before school.
Moments later, a federal lawsuit says, she awoke to find a gun pointed at her head and strangers shouting orders.
A team of FBI agents and police officers went to the home at 1445 NW Eighth Ave. at dawn on April 14, 2004, to arrest Ta'shika's uncle, Fabian Corriette, on a federal drug charge.
But the agents didn't have a search warrant when they roused Ta'shika, her grandmother and another uncle who owns the home and is her legal guardian, the lawsuit says. And Corriette wasn't there.
The agents didn't leave after failing to find Corriette. Instead, fearing that a family member might tip him off that the feds were looking for him, they refused to let Ta'shika leave for school and detained everyone for another 45 minutes until getting word from fellow agents that Corriette had been arrested elsewhere.
The 25-page civil suit, filed Nov. 28, seeks more than $1 million in damages from the United States and four unidentified FBI agents for false imprisonment, invasion of privacy and violations of Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches. Miami and Fort Lauderdale police, whose officers were also on the scene, are also defendants.
FBI spokeswoman Judith Orihuela declined to comment, saying her agency does not comment on pending litigation.
BY DAN CHRISTENSEN
Miami Herald, FL
Ta'shika Randle was 13, developmentally disabled and fast asleep when the FBI arrived at her Fort Lauderdale home early one morning before school.
Moments later, a federal lawsuit says, she awoke to find a gun pointed at her head and strangers shouting orders.
A team of FBI agents and police officers went to the home at 1445 NW Eighth Ave. at dawn on April 14, 2004, to arrest Ta'shika's uncle, Fabian Corriette, on a federal drug charge.
But the agents didn't have a search warrant when they roused Ta'shika, her grandmother and another uncle who owns the home and is her legal guardian, the lawsuit says. And Corriette wasn't there.
The agents didn't leave after failing to find Corriette. Instead, fearing that a family member might tip him off that the feds were looking for him, they refused to let Ta'shika leave for school and detained everyone for another 45 minutes until getting word from fellow agents that Corriette had been arrested elsewhere.
The 25-page civil suit, filed Nov. 28, seeks more than $1 million in damages from the United States and four unidentified FBI agents for false imprisonment, invasion of privacy and violations of Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches. Miami and Fort Lauderdale police, whose officers were also on the scene, are also defendants.
FBI spokeswoman Judith Orihuela declined to comment, saying her agency does not comment on pending litigation.
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