Chicago police officers captured on surveillance searching wrong house

CHICAGO - Chicago police officers were captured on surveillance video entering the wrong house on the city's South Side earlier this week.

The man who lives there says he feels violated by the ordeal and has yet to receive an explanation from police.

This all unfolded on Tuesday afternoon in the city's Brainerd neighborhood.

The man who lives in the home tells FOX 32 Chicago he never would have known police were there if it weren't for the cameras he had just installed.

The man, who did not want to be identified, recently moved into the home and said he was out of town on business earlier this week.

All of his doors were locked.

Around 5 p.m. Tuesday, surveillance cameras inside show at least six officers making entry through the kitchen door.

The man who lives there says he believes they were able to get in by opening the adjacent window from the outside and unlocking the door by reaching inside.  

The officers, who announced they were Chicago police, were seen splitting up and searching the home. After a few minutes, they left. 

On their way out, the officers were heard on video talking about a "helicopter" and said, "they said he's... right to this back door here. So if anything he hopped…" – the rest of their sentence is inaudible.

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The man, who has more questions than answers, said he is just grateful his family wasn’t home at the time.

"I honestly was just in shock, I didn’t understand what was going on, they had no reason to be looking for me, so I was like, what are y’all doing?" said the man who lives in the home. "I’m just glad the crib was empty. Because it could have went left. Me seeing the way they went about coming in my house, I wouldn’t have believed they were the police and I have all the rights to protect my house."

Luckily, he said, his dog was not in the house, either.

"The dog wasn’t in the house and I thank God that he wasn’t because they probably would have killed him. He’s specialized trained in security, so if he would have seen someone trying to come in the house that he’s not familiar with, he would have done what he was supposed to do. I’m sure they would have protected themselves as well."

The man, who rents the home, says he and the property owner have tried – but have not received any details from police about why they were there in the first place.

A spokesperson with the Chicago Police Department released the following statement to FOX 32 Chicago on Thursday:

"An investigation has been initiated into this matter. We will not comment further to maintain the integrity of the investigation."

FOX 32 Chicago also reached out to the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) to find out if they are looking into this matter. They provided the following statement: "COPA is in the early stages of investigating this incident and determining jurisdiction (whether COPA will keep this log or if it will be investigated by BIA)."