Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Family distraught over police raid

Henderson Police officers who burst into a house to search for evidence connecting a 16-year-old boy to gang-related graffiti were commended by their superiors for how well they handled the incident.

But Patrick and Lisa Lucero, whose home was left with broken windows and bullet holes in a bedroom door, said they feel violated and can't understand why police took such measures when the officers were just looking for spray paint.

"I truly believe in the law and in justice and I feel even now that the police are there to protect us," Lisa Lucero said. "But I feel they abused their power."

The raid happened about 7 a.m. Sept. 26 at the family's modest, one-story home in the 100 block of Hickory Street, near East Lake Mead Drive and Boulder Highway.

Lisa Lucero, who works for an insurance company, and her husband, Patrick, an electrician, were at work, and two of their four children -- Nicole, 20, and her brother, Patrick Jr., 16 -- were at home when Henderson's special response team arrived.

Officer Shane Lewis, spokesman for Henderson Police, said police shouted "Henderson Police, search warrant" several times and could see people moving around inside the house, but no one came to the door. Hearing the yelling, neighbors poked their heads outside, he said.

Lisa Lucero said Nicole, who is seven months pregnant, "woke up to glass being shattered around her. She woke up to gunshots."

According to the search warrant, officers were seeking "spray paint and the implements commonly associated with gang members and graffiti vandals."

Lewis said police believe Patrick Lucero Jr. sprayed graffiti on several city buildings and on a Boys and Girls Club building, causing more than $25,000 worth of damage.

The Luceros, however, said they were told the damage was between $7,000 and $9,000.

Police broke Nicole Lucero's bedroom window and shot a lock off her parent's master bedroom. That bedroom is where Patrick keeps his 17 hunting rifles, and he said he keeps the door locked so the children can't get to them.

Police didn't find any spray paint at the house, but they seized a blue bandana, belt buckle with a "P" on it, a Playboy mirror, a report card, a compact disc case and an envelope.

Lewis explained: "Anytime a kid is into these kinds of things, they will put their symbols on school books, posters on the walls, they will put their monikers or tag names on everything."

But Lewis said he didn't know if any of the items taken from the Lucero house had any gang symbols on them.

Officers arrested Patrick Lucero Jr. on a graffiti charge and took him to a juvenile detention facility.

Lisa Lucero conceded that her son has been in trouble before -- he pleaded guilty to charges of minor marijuana possession and car burglary and now attends an alternative school.

But she said he's not a gang member.

"I just know that's not true," she said.

While in the house, officers ran the names of all the family members through a police database and discovered that a man named Patrick Lucero was an ex-felon from New Mexico who served time for murder and burglary and wasn't permitted to possess weapons.

Patrick Lucero Sr. said he called home while the search was occurring and spoke to an officer who told him they knew about his criminal record in New Mexico. The officer said they found a New Mexico license plate in their bedroom, which bolstered their belief that he was the Patrick Lucero with the record.

He said he was born in that state, but hadn't lived there in more than 30 years.

The officer "said I might be arrested when I came home. I told my boss, 'Apparently I'm an ex-felon from New Mexico. I might see you in three months,' " Patrick Lucero Sr. said, thinking someone had stolen his identity.

When he arrived home, the police were gone, splintered wood was on the floor, bullet holes were in their bedroom door and windows were broken, Nicole Lucero told him the police said, "Your dad is lucky that he has a different middle initial."

Lewis said whether Patrick Lucero Sr. is the ex-felon from New Mexico is still being investigated.

"He may or may not be. They are following up on it," he said. "That was a fruit of what happened once we entered. I verified that specifically with the officers ... What happened with that was merely a side note once we were there."

The operation was considered high-risk because officers had reason to believe there were weapons in the house, Lewis said. The way the search occurred was standard operating procedure, he said.

"I don't care if the warrant is for computer fraud," he said. "If we know there are weapons present and the potential for violence exists, it's considered a high-risk warrant."

The Luceros' complaints are "almost comical from my perspective," Lewis said, because there were big kudos and commendations given to the officers involved. As far as a tactical operation, they did exactly what they were trained to do."

The Luceros aren't congratulating anyone, however. They're trying to find a lawyer to see if they have a case against the police department. The raid has so stigmatized them in the eyes of their neighbors that the Luceros want to move out of their home of eight months.

And Lisa Lucero said her 14-year-old son, Victor, had wanted to be a police officer, but now he's not so sure.

"He said, 'You know mom, if this is how I'm going to turn out, I don't want to do it,' " she said.

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