NOT THE SHARPEST KNIFE IN THE DRAWER: Wrong House Targeted In Porn Raid
Detective Timothy D. Hines, who was investigating the source of obscene calls to at least 20 or women enrolled at Whitworth College in Washington state, wrote down the telephone number associated with the calls incorrectly. Consequently, he obtained a search warrant for the wrong house in Spokane, and turned it upside down in a search for porn. The indignant 67-year-old homeowner complained that sheriff’s deputies "dumped out drawers, went through his wallet and checkbook, seized computers, CDs, floppy disks, VHS tapes and other material and refused to clean up the mess," reports The Associated Press. But what they did outside the house was even worse: "Half a dozen sheriff's vehicles converged on the house, and after taking photographs outside Hines told officers within hearing of the neighbors, "Now let's go inside and get some porn." A few days later, Hines finally got around to checking the accuracy of the phone number with a telephone company, but by then the real target of the search had skipped town.
- The Associated Press, October 5, 2006
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