Matthew Patton thought he was in for a relaxing afternoon on February 19. The long-haul trucker from Barrie, Ont. sat down to watch T.V. from the comfort of his home. Within the blink of an eye, his door was rammed in, guns were pointed at him, and he was in police handcuffs.
Patton did not break the law and was never charged. Yet, several weeks later, he is still asking how his apartment unit ended up on a search warrant.
“All I heard was, Barrie police, Barrie police,” Patton told CTV News. “So my first thing was, (to say), ‘I don’t know what you’re looking for, but you’ve got the wrong house!”
Security camera footage captured a police tactical unit ramming in Patton’s door. Seconds later, Patton can be heard telling officers that they had the wrong house, and captured him pleading with police to check his identification.
“Occupants in the back of the hallway, come out with your hands up,” yelled police through the home.
Patton replied, “I’m here by myself!”
“It wasn’t until I started fighting back that one cop checked my I.D. and went, ‘Woah, woah, woah, we’ve got the wrong person here,” he said.
Footage from Patton’s backdoor camera caught police in a common space of the home, ordering someone from the lower unit to come out. Footage then shows police arresting a man that exited from that unit.
“Barrie police can confirm that a recent warrant executed in Barrie on behalf of the North Bay Police Service was done with full judicial authorization and was carried out at the correct address, resulting in the arrest of a male wanted by the Repeat Offender Parole (ROPE) Squad,” reads a statement from Barrie police. “Police have also since been in contact with the owner of the property.”
A press release dated Feb. 20, indicates that a man wanted by North Bay police was arrested at a Barrie residence the day prior and was transferred to North Bay. The man was charged with three counts of failure to comply with a release order.
Patton, feeling wronged by the raid, asked police for a copy of the search warrant. The warrant does not list Patton’s name as the individual wanted by officers, but does list his apartment unit as the location of which the search warrant was to be executed.
Patton said he was left with a bill over $11,000 to fix his doors and property damage.
He’s also been left with a AR-1 police ordinance projectile, that was left behind in his child’s play area.
“What if my kids were home, 24 hours sooner, my kids would’ve been there,” he added. “It blows me away that they can do that and basically look at me and say, well, ‘It happens.’ It shouldn’t just happen.”
Patton said he and his family have been disturbed by the incident and is suing all law enforcement agencies involved. He’s also filed a complaint with the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency, an independent body that investigates police misconduct.
