Fort Worth police bungled search warrant, kept elderly couple in yard, suit alleges
In the front yard, Nelda Price waited in her nightgown. Her husband was in his pajamas. For about four hours, as officers executed what the couple would later learn was a search warrant seeking methamphetamine, they wondered what had drawn the police.
It was a Wednesday evening in March, and the couple who had been married for 51 years had finished dinner and were relaxing in the dining room when Fort Worth police officers forced their way through the front door.
Nelda and John Price, who were then 68 and 69, were terrified.
The officers pointed guns at the Prices and shouted at them to get their hands in the air, according to a lawsuit alleging civil rights violations that Nelda Price filed on Tuesday in Tarrant County District Court in which the city of Fort Worth is the defendant.
The officers used zip ties to link their hands behind them and forced them from their house in the 3400 block of Avenue G to the front yard.
The Prices’ account of their encounter with police is described in the lawsuit, which alleges that the city violated the Prices’ Fourth and 14th Amendment rights against unlawful and unreasonable search, seizure, excessive force and equal protection under the law.
“It was just really devastating,” Nelda Price, who works as a medical assistant, said in an interview.
John Price died about five weeks after the search warrant was executed. His death certificate indicates that the cause of his death was not determined.
It is not clear what information supported a search or whether police found what they sought. The city declined to release the affidavit supporting the warrant and did not respond to a question from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that asked whether the Prices were suspects in a criminal investigation.
City Attorney Sarah Fullenwider declined to comment on the allegations described in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit asserts that the search was unlawful and police did not have a reason to believe that the Prices, who are Black, were involved in criminal activity or posed a threat to the safety of the officers.
Police permitted the Prices to return inside after the search. On the kitchen table, they found a copy of the search warrant that indicated officers were searching for methamphetamine and evidence of narcotics trafficking. Nothing was noted on an inventory list section, through which a line was drawn.
“If they had done proper police work ... they would have known that they had it completely wrong,” said Kay Van Wey, the Dallas-based attorney who represents Price.
In the hours before police executed the warrant, officers separately stopped John Price, the Prices’ daughter and their daughter-in-law as they drove vehicles. Officers asked the women about packages, Van Wey said.
Officers ransacked the house, the lawsuit alleges. Nelda Price pleaded with the officers to explain what was going on and why the police were there.
Officers asked the Prices if they had aliases and if a Mexican boy brought a package to their home.
The officers caused substantial damage to the Prices’ residence and property during the search, the lawsuit alleges. A light globe near a closet and the front door was broken.
The Prices were in the front yard in view of their neighbors. Officers refused to let them go inside to change clothes, subjecting them to shame and embarrassment, according to the lawsuit.
John Price began feeling ill. It became apparent to Nelda Price that her husband’s blood pressure was high. Nelda Price pleaded with officers to allow her husband to take medication. He had not had a chance to take the pills that were sitting on a plate inside.
Nelda Price was ignored, according to the lawsuit.
John Price’s physical condition deteriorated, and an officer called for an ambulance. He was treated by emergency medical technicians.
This story was originally published October 22, 2020 at 4:35 PM.
