Houston Drug Raid, Update

[steve4102]

 Cop in Raid that Left Couple Dead, Suspended Amid Questions Over False Information on Warrant

Houston, TX — A botched drug raid last month shook the nation as a couple was killed by police in their own home and four officers shot. Now, after controversy and rumors have swarmed the case, more details are coming out that may paint an entirely different picture than what police have been telling the public. Adding to this suspicion is the news that this week, an officer involved in the raid has been relieved of duty amid questions about the warrant used to justify this raid containing false information.

According to the Houston Chronicle, it’s not clear what role the officer played in the Jan. 28 bust at 7815 Harding, but law enforcement sources said his suspension comes amid a probe into questions over whether the sworn affidavit used to justify the no-knock warrant may have contained false information.

The department has been tight-lipped about this tragedy since the beginning releasing very few details.

I know that in addition to the officer-involved shooting itself, many have questions regarding the circumstances surrounding the search warrant,” Chief Art Acevedo said Thursday in response to news of the officer’s suspension. “All of these questions are part of our ongoing criminal and administrative investigations.”

Naturally, professional instigator and champion of the police state, Houston Police Officers’ Union President Joe Gamaldi is doubling down on his claims that officers did nothing wrong and attempted to relate the suspension to the officer’s injuries sustained during the raid.

“The department made the decision to relieve the officer of duty while a thorough investigation continues,” he said. “Rumors will undoubtedly continue until the case agent is able to be interviewed. Unfortunately, his gunshot wound has resulted in him being incapacitated while surgeries continue. Any assumptions or conclusions made prior to the interview taking place are just assumptions.”

So many questions remain in regard to this tragic raid as this couple did not fit the profile of black tar heroin dealers. What’s more, the information allegedly given to police by the informant about what was in the house, was never confirmed after the couple was killed and their home searched.

As the Chron reports:

The informant also warned police of a “large quantity” of drugs inside, packaged in plastic baggies, and a 9mm handgun, according to the court filing.

When presented on Jan. 28 with the police affidavit — written by an officer whose name was redacted in public records — a municipal court judge signed off on the warrant. Hours later, police crashed through the couple’s front door, sparking a gun battle that left Tuttle, Nicholas and their pitbull dog dead. In the process, five officers were wounded, including four who were shot.

After the raid police found no 9mm handgun and no heroin.

 

“It’s about time they look into what needs to be done,” Monique Caballero, a friend and neighbor of the couple said. “I firmly believe they went to the wrong house and now they’re trying to cover it up, and it pisses me off that that head of the union wants to call my friend a dirtbag — you can’t retract that. You can’t retract and you can’t bring back the dead.”

Another neighbor is confident that the police will be exposed in this situation as well and is also outspoken about alleging that police were at the wrong house.

“The truth will all come out,” neighbor Sarah Sanchez, 42, said. “It’s not going to bring them back, but it’s going to clear their names and bring them justice.”

Originally, the police attempted to paint this scenario like an open and shut case of a drug raid turned violent when the dealers fought back. But after looking closer, a different story emerges.

As TFTP reported last week, something Art Acevedo did not say repeatedly at the press conferences is that the officers who entered the home were in plain clothes—not uniforms.

What’s more, upon entering the house, they immediately began shooting as one officer killed the couple’s dog. That’s when Tuttle came out of the back room with his .357 handgun and opened fire.

Robert Antu, who lived across the street from the couple—for the last 30 years—considered the couple dear friends. He told Click2Houston that Tuttle would have never fired on a police officer.

“If he would have known it was police, he would have never shot,” Antu said. “No way. He obeyed the law. I tell you, he was a straight-up guy.”

Another neighbor, Esmerelda Becerra—who battled cancer alongside Nicholas—backs up Antu’s statements and said this loving couple would have never hurt anyone.

“Do you know how I felt?” said Becerra, crying. “There’s no more tears in me. I went over there to go leave flowers. I almost fainted.”

“I still can’t stop crying!!! And yes they where (sic) GOOD PEOPLE!!!” wrote one woman who knew them on Facebook.

According to Tuttle’s sister, Tuttle was also a disabled veteran.

“Released on honorable discharged medical,” Tuttle’s sister, Elizabeth Ferrari said. “He had debilitating injuries for many years and it’s a sad situation.”

“I don’t buy it all,” Ferrari said of the official police story. “Not one hot minute.”

Nicholas-Tuttle was also a big-time supporter of police, who liked the All Lives Matter page on Facebook as well as her local law enforcement—definitely not the typical habit of a black tar heroin dealer.

https://freedomoutpost.com/houston-tx-cop-in-raid-that-left-couple-dead-suspended-amid-questions-over-false-information-on-warrant/

 

[M&P15T]

Ruh-roooooooooh!!

[ASH]

[tadbart]

Dis story got potentials.

[Moshe]

I will wait patiently to find out.  I have been part of media events in the past, and I often wondered what planet they were on.

[ASH]

agreed we gotta wait til all info is in and pay  while on leave

[Paul53]

Anybody writing a book or trying for movie rights yet?

[Moshe]

8 hours ago, Paul53 said:

Anybody writing a book or trying for movie rights yet?

Write, yes.  Movie rights?  I would find that shocking.  I have been going through hundreds of pages, revising, editing, and re-evaluating.  Literary Agents want a finished work, with the exception of Non-fiction.  Fiction is far more entertaining.  You create a character and intuitively know their personalities and they often surprise you.  The character reacts to stimuli based on the persona you have created.  A strange process, but it appears less stilted that way.  Also, they paint you into corners that you must find a creative solution.  I find I hate wearing my glasses all day long, so it a blessing to blow up Word as large as I can to avoid that conundrum.   On the forums, that is no easy task.

My harshest critic is my wife for being "sexist", but not in the conventional sense.  She complained I was far too accurate.

Edited February 11, 2019 by Moshe