Family sues CPD after SWAT team raids wrong home

CHICAGO (FOX 32 NEWS) - A Back of the Yards family filed a lawsuit Friday, claiming a Chicago Police SWAT team mistakenly raided their home and terrorized a mother, a grandmother and the four children inside.

Ebony Tate claims that in August, a SWAT team set off flash grenades outside her home and then broke in with assault rifles, searching for a 21-year-old suspect and a gun. 

She was at home with her mother and four children, who she says have been traumatized by the incident.

“My kids now does not trust the police. They look at the police in a different eye.. There's no trust there for them at all,” Tate said.

Ebony Tate said she's always taught her children to respect police, but now, the family fears them. 

“Why are SWAT officers pointing assault rifles at the faces, heads and chests of 4-, 8-, 11- and 13-year old kids?” asks the family’s attorney Al Hofeld Jr.

Tate said police had two addresses on their search warrants, and hadn't checked to see which one was correct. 

“The children were not just shocked and terrified, they literally believed, in that moment, they were forced to believe, in that moment, that something awful was going to happen to themselves, and to those dearest to them,” Holfeld said.

Tate's mother, Cynthia Eason, said she was forced to stand outside in her underwear while police ransacked the home.

“I was very much humiliated. Embarrassed,” Eason said.

The family's attorney said the children are still jumpy and have trouble sleeping.

“They've protected them from gangbangers, but they couldn't protect them from Chicago Police officers,” Holfeld said.

A spokesman for the city's law department declined comment, saying they haven't yet seen the lawsuit.