Mother In D.C. Traumatized After U.S. Marshals Mistakenly Raid Apartment (Video)

A Washington, D.C., mother said she was left in shock after U.S. Marshals falsely raided her home while she and her two young children were asleep (video below).

Hannah Lanes, a nursing assistant, said she awoke around 6:30 a.m. in the morning to the sound of knocking at her front door, according to FOX5 DC.

“My daughter went to the peep hole,” she told the news station. “They had the finger over the peep hole, so we couldn’t identify who they were.”

According to Lanes, the Marshals did not identify themselves before using a crowbar to enter the apartment.

“They just knocked down the door,” she said. “We didn’t have on any clothes. I was completely naked. My daughter didn’t have on any clothes. They started screaming, telling everybody to get out of the house. 

” … They dragged me and my daughter out of the house. All I could grab was a sheet and wrap it around myself. And when they pulled us out I was like, ‘What’s going on? My son is in there.'”

Lanes said she then begged the Marshals not to hurt her young son.

“Then my little boy, my 4-year-old, came walking out and they screamed at me to call him to us and I was like, ‘Please don’t shoot my son,'” she said.

One of the Marshals then reportedly saw there was a problem.

“The lady goes, ‘Isn’t this apartment 203?'” Lanes said. “And me and my daughter was like, ‘No!’ So then she goes, ‘Oh, we have the wrong house.’” 

The man the authorities were looking for was reportedly just two doors down. They later arrested him.

“So we’re standing on the balcony, outside with no clothes on, shaking, crying, scared,” Lanes said. “Guns have been pointed at us from the time we wake up and they have the wrong house.” 

The U.S. Marshals released the following statement after the incident:

Today, while serving both a search warrant and an arrest warrant for a fugitive wanted for First and Second Degree Child Sexual Abuse, USMS task force members mistakenly breached the door of a neighboring apartment. Immediately thereafter, the fugitive was apprehended in his nearby apartment. USMS personnel notified building management, who then repaired the door locks and provided the occupant with new keys prior to the USMS personnel leaving the scene. At this time we cannot comment on potential or pending litigation. However, any member of the public who believes that their property has been damaged as a result of a USMS operation may submit a claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act.

Sources: FOX5 DC, The American Mirror / Photo Credit: FOX5 DC