Wrongful police raid that “traumatized” children set for civil trial 7 years later
By Dave Savini, Samah Assad
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CHICAGO, Illinois (WBBM) — The wrongful police raid on an innocent family, which propelled a years-long investigation by CBS News Chicago and sparked police reforms, is set for trial Monday, April 21.
The Mendez family is suing the City of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department, accusing officers of violating their civil rights and traumatizing them and their children — then-9-year-old Peter and 5-year-old Jack — during the raid.
It all started November of 2017, when a confidential informant, or “J. Doe,” told police drugs were being sold in the second floor apartment, on the 2300 block of South Damen Avenue. But a CBS News Chicago investigation found police failed to follow department policy and independently verify the address the informant gave him was correct. It wasn’t.
Despite this, police supervisors, an assistant state’s attorney, and a judge signed off on a search warrant that listed an incorrect unit number. With that warrant in hand, at 6:45 p.m. on Nov. 7, 2017, a team of several officers burst into family’s apartment.
“Next thing you know, I look back and I just see the cops coming through our door” with guns, Peter said in his first interview in 2018. “They [police officers] traumatized me a lot.”
The federal lawsuit accuses officers of using unreasonable and unnecessary force against the children and their parents, unlawful search, unlawful detention, false arrest, and infliction of emotional distress, among other counts.
In previous interviews with CBS News Chicago, and during a deposition as part of his family’s lawsuit, Peter said officers pointed guns at him and his younger brother, Jack. The children can be heard crying and screaming in body camera video, as police handcuffed their father face down on the ground in front of them.
At one point during the search, an officer is heard on camera acknowledging police are in the wrong apartment. Officers previously denied pointing guns at anyone during the raid in interviews with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
The family said the children feared for their lives, and Peter is suffering from symptoms of PTSD as a result.
More than seven years since the raid, Peter is now 17 years old. And with no settlement reached between the city and his family, they — and the officers who were involved in the raid — are expected to testify before a jury next week, according to federal court filings. Evidence including body worn camera footage will also be presented.
Peter has waited several years to tell his story in court, but his story remains the same.
CBS 2 Investigators Wrongful Chicago Police raid that “traumatized” children set for civil trial 7 years later chicago By Dave Savini, Samah Assad April 17, 2025 / 10:32 PM CDT / CBS Chicago
The wrongful police raid on an innocent family, which propelled a years-long investigation by CBS News Chicago and sparked police reforms, is set for trial Monday, April 21.
The Mendez family is suing the City of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department, accusing officers of violating their civil rights and traumatizing them and their children — then-9-year-old Peter and 5-year-old Jack — during the raid.
It all started November of 2017, when a confidential informant, or “J. Doe,” told police drugs were being sold in the second floor apartment, on the 2300 block of South Damen Avenue. But a CBS News Chicago investigation found police failed to follow department policy and independently verify the address the informant gave him was correct. It wasn’t.
Despite this, police supervisors, an assistant state’s attorney, and a judge signed off on a search warrant that listed an incorrect unit number. With that warrant in hand, at 6:45 p.m. on Nov. 7, 2017, a team of several officers burst into family’s apartment.
“Next thing you know, I look back and I just see the cops coming through our door” with guns, Peter said in his first interview in 2018. “They [police officers] traumatized me a lot.”
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The federal lawsuit accuses officers of using unreasonable and unnecessary force against the children and their parents, unlawful search, unlawful detention, false arrest, and infliction of emotional distress, among other counts.
In previous interviews with CBS News Chicago, and during a deposition as part of his family’s lawsuit, Peter said officers pointed guns at him and his younger brother, Jack. The children can be heard crying and screaming in body camera video, as police handcuffed their father face down on the ground in front of them.
At one point during the search, an officer is heard on camera acknowledging police are in the wrong apartment. Officers previously denied pointing guns at anyone during the raid in interviews with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
The family said the children feared for their lives, and Peter is suffering from symptoms of PTSD as a result.
More than seven years since the raid, Peter is now 17 years old. And with no settlement reached between the city and his family, they — and the officers who were involved in the raid — are expected to testify before a jury next week, according to federal court filings. Evidence including body worn camera footage will also be presented.
Peter has waited several years to tell his story in court, but his story remains the same.
“I was there. I seen it. I experienced it,” he said in a 2022 interview, reiterating that officers pointed guns at him and his brother.
Court records also show attorneys for the Mendez family are hoping to establish a systemic pattern in the upcoming trial. This includes asking the judge to allow depositions or live testimony from other children whose families have separately sued the city for wrong raids.
Peter and his emotional recollection of what he experienced led to several other families coming forward with similar stories. CBS News Chicago spent years piecing together a troubling pattern of officers failing to follow department policy when obtaining and executing search warrants, with no accountability, and raiding the homes of innocent people.
Specifically, the reporting identified dozens of people, mainly Black and Latino residents, who said they were traumatized. Many accused police of using excessive force against children including gun pointing, and in one case, an 8-year-old boy was handcuffed. Some of their stories were the subject of a CBS News Chicago’s documentary,” [un]warranted.”
CBS News Chicago has tracked a dozen lawsuits filed by families against CPD for wrong raids like these, including one case going as far back as 2014. The lawsuits, and the legal processes as a result, underscore both the emotional and financial cost when families seek legal resolution – in their eyes, one of the only forms of justice – for alleged police misconduct.
In the Mendez case, for example, it took more than seven years since the lawsuit was filed for the case to go to trial. Peter and Jack were deposed by a city attorney in 2021, and will recount their experiences during the raid again next week during the trial.
In addition, CBS News Chicago found the city has spent millions of dollars fighting these cases. In just the dozen lawsuits CBS News Chicago reported on, the city spent over $4 million in legal fees to private firms to defend the police department and its officers involved. The Mendez case alone cost the city over $650,000 in legal fees to defend the officers so far.
Anjanette Young, the innocent social worker whose story has become synonymous with wrong police raids in Chicago after CBS News Chicago exposed what happened to her in 2019, said she plans to be in court next week to support Peter.
The city settled Young’s case in 2021 for $2.9 million. At the time, she said “it’s very disheartening” that several wrong raids before hers hadn’t been settled, including Peter’s. When Young and Peter met for the first time in late 2022, she told him his story inspired her to come forward about what happened to her.
“When I saw your story, I was like, if this little guy can stand up against the city and the police department about what happened, you gave me the strength to do it as well,” she told him.
While several years have passed since the raid on Peter’s house, he will recount his story again, but this time, before a jury.
“It’s my word against theirs,” Peter said. “But there’s the truth, which is the right truth – and that’s my truth.”
CPD would not comment on the case and referred CBS News Chicago to the city’s law department.
A spokesperson for the law department would not comment on pending litigation related to the Mendez case, but said it’s the city’s “fiduciary duty” to pay for the defense of officers involved in cases like these:
“The City has a fiduciary duty to provide legal representation to employees facing claims arising from actions performed within the scope of their official duties. This fiduciary duty extends to all cases, including search warrant related litigation.
“In the Mendez case, further commenting on ongoing litigation could jeopardize efforts to resolve this matter in a way consistent with the City’s best interests.”
Since CBS News Chicago first began investigating raids like the one on Peter’s home, the city and the Cook County State’s Attorney implemented several police reforms, including changes in how search warrants are executed. A state law was also passed in Peter’s name, requiring more police training when children are present during police activity. The Chicago Police Department is also now held accountable for search warrant reforms under the federal consent decree.
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