BATF Storm Empty House in Parma, OH

Date: Sat, 24 Jun 1995 12:09:15 -0400

Last night at 11:00 PM the big story in Cleveland, Ohio was the siege at a house in Parma (about 10 miles Southwest of Cleveland). At that time all that was known was that ATF attempted to serve a search warrant on a 23 year old man who lived with his parents. When the agents tried to serve the warrant the man slammed the door on their face. The BATF only had one choice, call in the SWAT teams.

The TV crews in the field had to broadcast in the dark because the ATF and Parma SWAT teams turned off power and ordered them to kill the lights in the area. The local talking heads speculated that the young man was holding his parents hostage, had a stockpile of illegal automatic weapons and had threatened BATF agents with weapons.

One local talking head, Ted Henry of ABC affiliate WEWS Channel 5, went as far as saying "well he must have quite a stockpile of weapons for the ATF to serve a search warrant."

The siege lasted all night. Over 60 officers from the BATF, Parma and local communities spent the night with their weapons trained on the house. They tried bullhorns, inserting a hostage negotiation phone, inserting optics, and all the other common tactics one would expect. They never made contact with the young man.

This morning at around 6:30 AM, a BATF dynamic entry team (if you've seen the pictures of the teams at Waco you know what these guys look like) went into the house backed up by the Parma SWAT team. The team did not have to break down the door because they were able to get the keys from the young man's parents (OOPs, I guess they really were not hostages afterall).

After the BATF team secured the house they realized that no one was home (OOPs, I guess there wasn't really a standoff after all). One of the local talking heads guessed that this 23 year old desperado walked out a back door that was blocked from view by a wooden privacy fence. The talking head did not venture a guess as to why the team of four agents (I am assuming that there were four and not just two because of statements made this morning by the BATF) who originally went to the house did not secure the back door when they felt it necessary to call in the guys in black body armor.

They BATF searched the house today but would not comment on what they found. The talking heads did mention that they did not see the BATF emerge carrying anything from the house (OOPs, maybe there wasn't a stockpile of illegal automatic weapons after all). No one knows if the young man is considered a fugitive because the BATF is not issuing anymore comments.

One final note, after the house was secured but before the search a BATF spokesman explained a couple of interesting points. First they were not serving an arrest warrant, only a search warrant, so the press should not expect any arrests.

Second, the first two agents who approached the house and had the door slammed in their face did not have the warrant with them; the other two agents were somewhere else with the warrant (I assume, perhaps wrongly, that these agents were at the scene but who knows.).

Third, the spokesman said that the agents were suprised the by man's reaction because this was just a routine search.

(Right. A routine search of someones home, without a warrant, effected at 6:00pm on a Friday night so that if they find something they can keep the guy in lockup all weekend before you have to take him before a magistrate.)

"They're not heavily armed jackbooted thugs... they're heavily armed jackbooted clowns."

"They should issue these guys clown noses, rainbow wigs and big red floppy shoes."

--- a friend commenting on the BATF

Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 18:03:57 -400

I have some more information that was not available when I made my original post.

(1) The BATF did not have a warrant when the went to the house the first time. The BATF asked to search the house and the occupant refused to let them in. Some reports say that he slammed the door in their face, others say he simply refused to allow them in without a warrant.

(2) The BATF was able to secure a sealed (i.e. secret) search warrant from Parma Municipal Court within a two hours of their initial contact with the occupant.

(3) The BATF came back with their own "dynamic entry team" and the Parma SWAT Team. The BATF never approached the house until the next morning. Once they secured the warrant they ordered the occupant of the house to come out using a bull horn. They later tried phones but since no one was home no one answered.

(4) As of today the warrant is still sealed, no one has been arrested, the BATF will not tell the occupant of the house or the media what they were looking for, and the BATF is no longer making any comments.

(5) Some of the neighbors who had their power turned off are angry about the spoiled food. There may be some fireworks at the next city council meeting but since no one is dead it is really not a very big story.

This site is still underconstruction, so please bear with us.

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