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3 months ago
18
Armed Florida cops wrongfully stormed a black war veteran's home while searching for a felon who was in fact in prison.
Naomi Simmons, a 27 year old who served in Afghanistan, told NBC Miami she was sitting at home on June 14 when she heard a banging on her seven-year-old daughter's bedroom window.
When she went outside to check what the commotion was 'there were two guns pointed at me,' she recounted.
'I said, why are you guys pointing guns?' she asked, noting that the Miami-Dade police officers did not identify themselves before she opened the door.
They then told her they were searching for a man named Marquise Wiley, who was wanted on felony gun charges. His ID listed his address as Simmons' home, she said.
Naomi Simmons, 27, said Miami-Dade cops wrongfully stormed her house while searching for a felon on June 14
She described how she heard a banging noise on her daughter's bedroom window, and went outside to find officers pointing their guns at her
But Simmons and her daughter had been living at the Miami Gardens home for more than a year, and had never met Wiley and did not know anything about him.
When police finally left her house, satisfied that Wiley was not hiding out there, Simmons said she sat back on her couch and was able to track down the suspect's whereabouts using just her phone.
She then found that Wiley was already in custody, dealing with two criminal cases in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
'I was able to find it with no resources and a cellphone on my couch,' Simmons told NBC Miami, adding: 'He was at the prison before they even came to my door.'
The cops said they were searching for Marquise Wiley, who was wanted on felony gun charges. His ID listed his address as Simmons' home
The 35 year old with a lengthy rap sheet had been sitting in Broward County jail since January to stand trial for his involvement in a 2020 masked robbery at a jewelry store.
Wiley was then found guilty on May 3, and was sentenced to 10 years and three months in a state prison.
A judge then issued a warrant to bring Wiley back to Miami-Dade County for his ongoing gun case, which he has pleaded not guilty to.
The Broward Sheriff's Office has since confirmed he was in their jail that whole time, until he was transferred to a state prison on June 13 - just one day before Miami-Dade cops raided Simmons' home.
Miami-Dade police now say they checked local, state and federal databases to determine whether Wiley was in custody prior to raiding Simmons' home - but neglected to check the Broward County Jail database.
They also apparently failed to realize that court records last connected Wiley to the address they raided in 2018, stating that he had lived there for just one year, according to Atlanta Black Star.
But the police department has apparently tried to place the blame for the mix-up on the Broward County Sheriff's Office, saying deputies should have checked on Wiley's status before transferring him to state custody due to his pending gun case.
A spokesperson for the department, though, has said they will investigate the incident.
Simmons, who served in Afghanistan, said the ordeal left her with nightmares
Meanwhile, Simmons said the ordeal left her traumatized.
'I'm not sleeping, I'm still having nightmares,' she told NBC Miami nearly a month later.
'I already suffer from PTSD from my time in Afghanistan.'
She went on to describe the situation as 'frustrating and scary because you see all these things on the news about people that look like me, men and women who are getting killed because police showed up at the wrong house - and police showed up at the wrong house.'
English (US)