Mother sues Sheriff, county for $5 million over response to 2024 Elyria police raid

The mother of a toddler who claims her child was injured in an Elyria police raid on the wrong home has sued Lorain County and the Sheriff's Office for their role in the investigation which found Elyria had probable cause to carry out the raid. Attorneys filed a lawsuit in federal court late last week on behalf of Courtney Price and her son Waylon, who is identified as "W.P." in the suit, seeking $5 million in damages. The suit accuses the Sheriff's Office of retaliation, conspiracy to violate Price's rights, false arrest, intentional infliction of emotional distress and defamation. Attorney Mark Biggerman, of Pepper Pike, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Cleveland, and the case is before Judge Pamela Braker. The Lorain County commissioners, the Sheriff's Office, Sheriff Jack Hall, former Sheriff Phil Stammitti and two unnamed Sheriff's Office employees are named as defendants. Previously, Price sued the Elyria Police Department, city of Elyria and certain city employees for their actions during and related to the raid that took place at 331 Parmely Ave., where she and her son were staying, on Jan. 10, 2024. Price, 26, of Canada, Kentucky, was charged in Lorain County Common Pleas Court with telecommunications fraud, grand theft and falsification in a theft offense, all felonies, in May. The charges were based on allegations that she lied about the Elyria police raid to raise over $48,000 through a GoFundMe page set up in the wake of the incident. Lorain County Prosecutor Tony Cillo said his office would be the first candidate to defend the county in the case, but that he had not yet received the lawsuit and could not comment on pending litigation. The lawsuit filed against the county on Oct. 3 argues that the county officials entered into a "conspiracy" with Elyria police to clear Elyria of any wrongdoing in the raid and to retaliate against Price by charging her. The raid Just after 2 p.m. on Jan. 10, 2024, the Elyria police Special Response Team, or SRT, carried out a search warrant on 331 Parmely Ave., believing it to be the home of a 12-year-old boy who, with friends, was accused of stealing several firearms. During the raid, police rammed down the front door of the home, broke two windows and activated two flash bangs (incendiary diversionary devices) outside the home. It was later found that the boy who was the subject of the warrant had previously lived at the home, but had since moved down the street. He was also in police custody at the time of the raid. In the aftermath of the raid, Price alleged that "toxic smoke" created by the flash bangs had engulfed Waylon and damaged his lungs — the boy has a severe lung disease and was on a ventilator at the time — and prevented her from tending to him. The Elyria Police Department, under then-Chief William Pelko, denied these allegations and said body camera footage showed that Waylon was unaffected by smoke and Price did not attempt to tend to him promptly. Body camera footage of the raid shows police medics providing aid to Waylon before contacting LifeCare Ambulance to transport him to UH St. John Medical Center as a precaution. Body camera footage also showed after Price's handcuffs were removed, she went back into the home with several officers and went into a side room to change out of her wet socks, as she had been taken out of the house without shoes. As officers began questioning her about who was staying in the home, another officer interrupted to tell her to tend to Waylon. An officer asked if Waylon's breathing seemed normal to Price and she replied, "The breathing isn't normal, but he's OK." A subsequent outside review of the incident was carried out by the Lorain County Sheriff's Office, which found that Elyria police had not used excessive force in the raid and had established appropriate probable cause to seek and carry out the warrant. The review did however contain a police report from just two months prior to the raid, in which the 12-year-old who was the eventual subject of the raid had given police his correct address. The lawsuit The latest lawsuit alleges that Elyria officials conspired with the Sheriff's Office both to hide alleged misconduct by Elyria police and to punish Price for speaking about the incident and suing the city. The lawsuit restated many of Price's prior allegations, including that police prevented her from getting to her son within a reasonable amount of time after the raid. It also said that Waylon stopped breathing later on the day of the raid, and he was transported to University Hospitals' Rainbow Babies & Children Hospital where he was diagnosed with chemical pneumonitis and stayed 10 days for treatment. Price has previously said that her son was released from the hospital on the day of the raid, and did not stop breathing until the next morning. The lawsuit reiterates the accusation that Elyria police knew or should have known that the suspect of the warrant no longer lived at the home, and officers acted negligently in carrying out the raid and denied Price and her family their constitutional rights. According to the lawsuit, Pelko requested Stammitti carry out an administrative review of the raid on Jan. 15, and on Feb. 6 he requested that then-Lorain County Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson investigate alleged criminal activity regarding Price's GoFundMe. Biggerman went on to write that Price and Jennings filed suit against Elyria in early October, and that shortly after that, during the October session of the grand jury, Price was indicted on telecommunications fraud, grand theft, and falsification in a theft offense. "However, the indictment was retaliatory and the grand jury's findings were premised on false information and false charges brought by defendants," the lawsuit said. Further counts accused the defendants of false arrest for jailing Price when she faced the charges against her, intentionally inflicting emotional distress and defaming her. The lawsuit asked the court to order the defendants to pay Price $2 million actual and compensatory damages, $2 million for special damages for "emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment and anguish" and $1 million for punitive damages, along with "enjoining defendants from further engaging in the unlawful conduct described in this complaint." Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.