Pima County SWAT Releases Helmet Cam Video, Mike Storie Continues To Beclown Himself

| May 27, 2011

Well ladies and gentlemen I just got back from a 50 hour bender in Las Vegas and pretty much as soon as I touched down in Phoenix, Pima County Sheriff’s Office released video and documents pertaining to the botched raid that killed Cpl. Guerena. Mike Storie, the asshat who is doing a piss poor job of representing the SWAT officers involved in the raid, is claiming that:

“Yeah, you watch the video and clearly you hear sirens, you see them (SWAT) approach, you see them knock and announce several times. Clearly, anyone in the area will know police were there,” explained SWAT lawyer Mike Storie.”

Well, lets take a look at the video:


First of all, you can clearly see that SWAT did not roll into the neighborhood with sirens blazing. They only run the sirens after they pull in front of the house and first for only a few seconds and the for about six to eight more seconds. They did not run the siren for more than ten seconds and by turning it on and off it gave it the sound of a car alarm, which as everybody knows, is a common sound in a neighborhood or apartment complex. So I doubt everybody knew the police were there.

Also, they were playing music on their Bearcat’s radio as they pulled up. I have a problem with this for a couple of reasons and I know some of you are probably are going to disagree with me (and probably a few you even played music in guntrucks during raids) but hear me out. First of all, it is a distraction. You get into the song and lose focus on what you are supposed to be doing. Secondly, it can screw with your ability to hear your comms. I wore those earpieces that the SWAT team for about two years at my first duty station and they do not filter out background noise. Finally, those vehicles are extremely loud and usually (but not always) they aren’t soundproofed. Having music playing makes it even more difficult for the team to hear voice commands. To me, this is just another example of how unprofessional this team was.

Once they arrive at the house they do clearly announce themselves but as far as I can see, a deputy only lightly bangs on the door. After that the breach team breaks open the door and then the entry team moves up to the door way. At this point, one of the deputies (looks like the one on the far left) has a negligent discharge and the rest of team opens up. As we all knew, they crowded the doorway (fatal front) but in what appears to contradict some earlier statements it looks like the guy with the shield fell down after a lull in the shooting, not as soon as the first officer had a negligent discharge.

However, the most disturbing part of the video to me involves the breach team. After the shooting starts, one of the breachers appears to run up to the door, draw his pistol, brace himself against a member of the entry team, and fire his pistol one-handed into house. What kind of Rambo-shit was that? Also, it appears multiple members of the team were dry after they shot Guerena, which would have made them unable to deal with any other shooters in the house, especially in the fatal front.

Overall, this does not make the SWAT look any better. Additionally, none of the documents released pertain to Guerena’s allegeded criminal connections and Mike Storie keeps pushing the “home invasion crew” story, which as I have pointed out before, contradicts earlier statements from PCSO.

Category: The Guerena Killing

28 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
streetsweeper

*pst* Dan! No video….

Old Trooper

You’re right, OD, that doesn’t make them look any better. In fact, it makes them look worse. The John Wayne dude not only fires one handed, there is no way he had a proper target picture. No fire discipline, weak-assed door knocking, poor entry technique, the list goes on. Do you think anyone would know who the hell they are, by the way they are all hollering? Then the limp-wristed door knock. The entry technique is like watching a monkey humping a football.

It reminds me of the scene in “Naked Gun” where in a stand-off, one guy fires a round and then everyone starts firing, including a guy standing by the Roach Coach with a doughnut in his yapper as he fires indiscriminately towards the house.

It’s a good thing they aren’t taking my blood pressure this morning when I get to the VA.

StrikeFO

What kind of entry tactics are these people being taught? They all crowd around the door like a bunch of idiots, don’t push through and get in the house… you have Bozo #1 falling all over the place with his shield, Bozo #2 jumping into the action and shooting his pistol over someone’s head.

They really need to leave this shit to the military. Not a bunch of adrenaline jockeys with badges.

Jonn Lilyea

That was a siren? That was a fifteen second knock? And what’s with the clumsy fuck laying on the ground at the end? And the guy shooting around the corner like a fricken muj and another over top of the crowd just trying to get his licks in.

If we can believe Vanessa, by the time the video has started, she already saw the guy in the window at the back of the house and Jose was already in a firing stance inside the front door – before they set off their car alarm.

lucky

This is one of the most unprofessional outfits and raids I have ever seen. It actually makes me glad that I no longer want to be a Cop. This is embarrassing, please tell me someone saved this footage for the US Attorney’s Office! What tactical training are these idiots receiving, if any? Any competent Soldier/Cop knows to stay the hell out of the fatal funnel, they teach it from freaking day one at the Academy!!! The idiot running and gunning one handed like he’s John Rambo, well thats just a bonus. Thats one of the most damaging things the team did, L.E. tactics wise. He looked to have been on perimeter, and if you abandon your perimeter post for whatever reason, that typically equals your ass on an unpaid two week vacation very quickly. Add to that his shitty firearms handling, and he and the whole team need to be fired and indicted for Capital Murder!

AW1 Tim

Our friend, CDR Salamander has picked up the story as well.

http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2011/05/yes-jackbooted-government-thugs.html

Retired surface warfare officer and great guy.

These guys all need to be stood down and subject to a DoJ civil-rights investigation.

UpNorth

The siren? Agreed, it sounds like a cheap car alarm. Given the quality of the recording, the “knock” still sounds like a ghost knock.
I wonder if they could have crowded any more idiots into the fatal funnel? Doesn’t seem like they had enough people standing there. The previous comments covered all of the other errors these ass clowns made.
And, Storie is still pushing the “home invasion crew” story? When will the PCSD manufacture, er, offer proof of that? It’s been long enough now, that anything they put out is suspect.

StrikeFO

another thing i noticed… it was about a 3 second pause between the knock and “police search warrant open the door” and then breach.

Is 3 seconds enough time for you to get up and get to your front door and open it when someone knocks?

lucky

Ok, so I just popped over to the article linked above where the lawyer (the team already having one implies both coverup and guilt on their part btw) claims that someone else ran the surveillance car’s plates, and that it was unauthorized and spooked the guys on the detail. Considering that the only people anywhere in all of the 50 States that are authorized to run plates are in certain shops at the DMV and Law Enforcement, maybe these window-lickers spooked a local or a State Cop or even a Bureau guy who lived in the neighborhood. It is completely ludicrous to claim that a CIVILIAN had access to State Law Enforcement databases, and just makes the Pima County Sheriff look even more jacked up! What did they accidentally lose a Mobile Data Terminal (Toughbook laptop in cruisers) with the DMV database screen up? Seriously, these window-lickers can’t conduct a raid anywhere near correctly and they can’t even do a decent job of attempting to cover it up. Anyone with a basic working knowledge of LEO TTP’s could shoot holes in their story!

streetsweeper

What a definite classic cluster fuck. Start to finish, that is putting 10#s of shit in a 5# bag right there. Take every one of those fooking rejects behind the wood shed and beat ’em senseless with wool sock’s and soap bar’s. They are extremely lucky there wasn’t an armed hard core crew in that house, their shit was cooked. Absolutely un-fooking believable!

Dan, that is a cheap chinese made car alarm they use for a siren. The driver couldn’t activate it by pressing the vehicle horn button? A Federal Signal system (200 watts) from the factory would rock their damn ears with one of the doors wide open. ROFLMAO! Pussy ass knock on the door? You do know they’ll use that to claim the subject wouldn’t open the door, right?

Thanks, Lucky! You backed up what I said quite a while ago about someone running the unmarked car plate. They spooked another cop that was very un-aware of their so-called rookie surveillance op. I very seriously doubt someone lost an MDT. AT&T or Motorola would have cut it from accessing the network as soon as the agency notified them.

Fucking amateur’s…I can’t wait to see the whole damn video!

streetsweeper

And so any of you LEO’s that come here know & understand, the above is no way a reflection on you and/or the job you do.

garryowen

lucky

Not a problem Streetsweeper, from the video, this has to be the most amateurish raid I have ever seen! I mean the neighborhood kids and I could have pulled off something ten times better and more professional when we played Soldier growing up! And when it comes to running the plates, their little statement about some civvie running them through the state database either proves one of two things, they are cowboys who can’t get their intel straight and don’t think that they need to check with other neighboring agencies or jurisdictions, can’t do a proper canvass and are general fuckups in all things related to the Law Enforcement profession, OR they have a mole in their agency feeding info to an alleged crew of burglars; either way, they took a huge bite of a shit sandwich and are too busy botching a cover up to realize that, just with the Military, in LE, if you fuck up, own your fuck up, take your punishment and move on. Someone else is gonna fuck up sometime soon, and eyes will be off of you. Not in this instance, however. I think Sheriff Joe Arpio needs to come down to Pima County, strip the Sheriff of his badge and sidearm, fire all of the Deputies and just take over lol

JustPlainJason

Here is something that I just thought about. What if the surveillance car got spooked by a concerned neighbor? I know if a strange car shows up in my neighborhood somebody would investigate it.

lucky

@JPJ: The lawyer was talking about someone running the tags on the surveillance car. The general public does not have access or authority to do that, only local, state, and federal LEO’s do.

lucky

BTW, if you are curious as to whether your car’s plates have been run by LE, you can go down to the DMV and put in a request to get that information, I believe its like $5 or $10 in Virginia, it will tell you which agency, where, and the date-time group, not the individual Officer. And my postings are not intending to be my hating on LEO’s, heck I almost became one, I just severely dislike the unprofessional nature of this whole fiasco. It reeks of stupidity and badges should roll all the way to either the unemployment office or the Arizona State Penitentiary.

BeatandRelease

The Arizona Star is reporting that 500 pages of officer’s statements,witness statements, evidence lists, radio transmissions and other communications have been released along with the video. Wonder how one would get their hands on those.

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/article_ffd3cd6b-6564-59a9-8b43-a1635ae66bd4.html

jonp

These buttfucks ought to be in jail for such a screwed operation. Who in their right mind rushes the door and jams it with bodies to open fire. The clown the runs in after it starts and puts his gun through the crowd and opens fire cannot have any manor of clear line of sight of what he is firing at much less any aim. This, my friends, is what is called “spray and pray”. One of the most unprofessional things I have ever seen. One man inside the room could have waited for the door to open then disabled or killed every one of these jackasses and the ones that he only wounded if by a miracle they hit him could have been dispatched by a man calmly walking up from a different room and firing at them while this clusterfuck of dimwits were reloading. OY.

jonp

@streetsweeper: One hardcore crew with one claymore, and the drug gangs have far heavier firepower than that, could have wiped all of them out in a heartbeat.

streetsweeper

@ jonp; Believe it brother. If I “were” to deploy a crew against THAT team? Everyone of them would’ve left that scene all right. It wouldn’t be walking, no claymores needed.

That is a collasial goat rope, cluster fuck right there at that door.

BeatandRelease

AZ Star has the .pdf files up. I have an analysis of Krygier’s statement up, but I am unable to read the statement of Mrs. Guerena. Why do the first so clearly and screw up hers so badly?

streetsweeper

Eh? Because they knew BnR?

NotSoOldMarine

That wasn’t a siren, they set off the guys car alarm.

streetsweeper

I’m looking it over now, BnR….Maybe my old man eyes can decode their punkass crap LOL

JustPlainJason

Fortunately for this team Guerena had enough discipline to make sure he had positive ID before he shot. If he actually wanted to have a shootout I would be willing to bet he would have got at least three of the team.

trackback

[…] on tactical skills, nor do I play one on the Internet. So, I'll turn it over to a real expert, Operator Dan (read the comments too): After that the breach team breaks open the door and then the entry team […]

streetsweeper

@ #13- JPJ; Chances are..

streetsweeper

Hey Classic Liberal? Your blog link isn’t working. Did Jonn cut you off or something? lmao!

trackback

[…] Story: We do have a follow up on the story we discussed back in Episode 18 where a 26 year old former Marine was shot and killed.  The SWAT team had at least one camera running and in the video does seem to identify themselves, however the video does not show what happens inside the residence and leaves many questions unanswered as well as creates some new ones. […]