Police raid Md. mayor's home, kill his dogs

[dixiechick]

TweetPolice raid Md. mayor's home, kill his dogs
Couple appeared to be innocent victims of pot smuggling scheme

BERWYN HEIGHTS, Md. - Mayor Cheye Calvo got home from work, saw a package addressed to his wife on the front porch and brought it inside, putting it on a table.

Suddenly, police with guns drawn kicked in the door and stormed in, shooting to death the couple's two dogs and seizing the unopened package.

In it were 32 pounds of marijuana. But the drugs evidently didn't belong to the couple.

Police say the couple appeared to be innocent victims of a scheme by two men to smuggle millions of dollars worth of marijuana by having it delivered to about a half-dozen unsuspecting recipients.

The two men under arrest include a FedEx deliveryman; investigators said the deliveryman would drop off a package outside a home, and the other man would come by a short time later and pick it up.

A furious Calvo said Thursday that he and his wife, Trinity Tomsic, are asking the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the July 29 raid.

"Trinity was an innocent victim and random victim," Calvo said outside his two-story, red-brick house in this middle-class Washington suburb of about 3,000 people. "We were harmed by the very people who took an oath to protect us."

'Dogs were our children'
Calvo insisted the couple's two black Labradors were gentle creatures and said police apparently killed them "for sport," gunning down one of them as it was running away.

"Our dogs were our children," said the 37-year-old Calvo. "They were the reason we bought this house because it had a big yard for them to run in."

The mayor, who was changing his clothes when police burst in, also complained that he was handcuffed in his boxer shorts for about two hours along with his mother-in-law, and said the officers didn't believe him when he told them he was the mayor. No charges were brought against Calvo or his wife, who came home in the middle of the raid.

Prince George's County Police Chief Melvin High said Wednesday that Calvo and his family were "most likely ... innocent victims," but he would not rule out their involvement, and he defended the way the raid was conducted. He and other officials did not apologize for killing the dogs, saying the officers felt threatened.

Arrests in smuggling plot
Police announced Wednesday they had arrested two men suspected in a plot to smuggle 417 pounds of marijuana, and seized a total of $3.6 million in pot. Investigators said the package that arrived on Calvo's porch had been sent from Los Angeles via FedEx, and they had been tracking it ever since it drew the attention of a drug-sniffing dog in Arizona.

Police intercepted it in Maryland, and an undercover detective posing as a deliveryman took it to the Calvo home.

Calvo's defenders — including the Berwyn Heights police chief, who said his department should have been alerted ahead of time — said police had no right to enter the home without knocking.

But officials insisted they acted within the law, saying the operation was compromised when Calvo's mother-in-law saw officers approaching the house and screamed. That could have given someone time to grab a gun or destroy evidence, authorities said.

Neighbors in Berwyn Heights, which Calvo described as "Mayberry inside the Capital Beltway," have rallied around the couple. On Sunday night, supporters gathered on a ballfield to pay tribute to the family and the dogs. A banner on the wooden fence around Calvo's yard read, "Cheye and Trinity, We support you, Friends and Citizens of Berwyn Heights." Around it were dozens of handwritten messages from supporters.

Latest embarrassment
In addition to being the part-time mayor, Calvo works at a nonprofit foundation that runs boarding schools. His wife is a state finance officer.

"When all of this happened I was flabbergasted," said next-door neighbor Edward Alexander. "I was completely stunned because those dogs didn't hurt anybody. They barely bark."

The case is the latest embarrassment for Prince George's County law enforcement. A former police officer was sentenced in May to 45 years in prison for shooting two furniture deliverymen at his home last year, one of them fatally. He claimed that they attacked him. In June, a suspect jailed in the death of a police officer was found strangled in his cell.

Calvo said he was astonished that police have not only failed to apologize, but declined to clear the couple's names.

His wife spoke through tears as she described an encounter with a girl who used to see the couple walking their dogs.

"She gave me a big hug and she said, 'If the police shot your dogs dead and did this to you, how can I trust them?'" Tomsic said. "I don't want people to feel like that. I just want them to be proud of our police and proud to live in Prince George's County."

[dixiechick]

TweetIt just goes to show you that when it comes to the police... not even the mayor safe.

They want us to think they are here to help us, but there not. We've had our third break in last week and there is really not much we can do about it. When my ex was stalking me, I took a recorded voice mail message to the sheriff's office of him threatening me and they said there was nothing they could do for me.

[daved150]

Tweethuh...maybe he can cell-mate with our mayor! they arrested his goofy ass yesturday

[FUZO]

TweetITS SAD THAT THEY KILLED HIS 2 DOGS

[MAK2102]

TweetThats Maryland for ya

[3Vandoo]

Tweetwow

afghanistan is more secure

[dixiechick]

Tweet

huh...maybe he can cell-mate with our mayor! they arrested his goofy ass yesturday

...and our sheriff. He was arrested in February for bribery and money laundering.

ITS SAD THAT THEY KILLED HIS 2 DOGS

It is sad. I'm sure those dogs were so pampered that they did know how to attack anyone.

[cyberlegend1994]

TweetI smell a major lawsuit against the town....

[horsepwr]

TweetThere should be a lawsuit. The cops should get their fuk asses in deep shyt just like they do to normal citizens every fukin day, but you can't battle the cops. Maybe a mayor can get something done though. I hope, at least. Fuk head, piece of shyt police...that's all 80...err 95% of them are. They aren't there to protect shyt but fuk with people's lives that don't hurt a flee. What's weed gonna hurt?..nothing & nobody. What do the cops hurt?..anybody they dam well want without any repercussions. To be able to kill without even batting an eye, over nothing, with no real investigation behind it. They went the wrong direction every turn they took, it sounds like.

[FUZO]

TweetWell he will get compinsated by suing the snot out of them

[firstenrgy]

TweetHe might get compensated because he is mayor but there have been numerous occasions when the DEA did a controlled delivery and the resident of the home brought the package in didn't open it and same thing. I had a few occasions when the fedX guy dropped off something after office hours and left it. I use to take it in and the next time I saw him (always in a day or two) I would give it to him telling him I wasn't expecting a package from XXX. I stopped that when I got into this thing of ours. Now, I could care less. I have a script for every subtance in my house!
Word to the wise. If you are expecting a package and they leave it at your doorstep. Leave it there, go inside and get your black sharpie... Write return to sender, bring it in and leave it sit for 48 hours. If it's a controlled delivery, they will have a tough time proving you were going to accept the package when its unopened and return to sender is written on it.

[dixiechick]

TweetFirstenrgy... that is some very good advise.

That mayor will get compensated just because of who he is, but if it was one of us, we would have seen nothing. Heck, we would still be sitting in jail.