In a troubling incident in Florida, armed police mistakenly raided the home of a Black war veteran while searching for a felon who was actually behind bars.
Naomi Simmons, a 27-year-old Afghan war veteran, recounted the frightening experience to NBC Miami.
On June 14, she was at home when she heard loud banging coming from her daughter’s bedroom window.
When Simmons went outside to investigate, she was met with a terrifying sight: two guns were pointed directly at her.
“I asked them why they were pointing guns at me,” she explained, noting that the Miami-Dade officers hadn’t identified themselves before she opened the door.
The officers informed her they were searching for Marquise Wiley, a man wanted for felony gun charges.
According to their information, Wiley’s address was listed as Simmons’ home.
A Shockingly Misplaced Search
Simmons and her daughter had been living in their Miami Gardens residence for over a year and had never heard of Wiley.
After the police left, Simmons used her phone to track down Wiley’s location and discovered he was already in custody.
She found out that Wiley was dealing with two criminal cases in Broward and Miami-Dade counties and had been in jail since January.
Wiley’s Status and Police Oversight
Wiley, who has a lengthy criminal record, was convicted on May 3 and sentenced to over ten years in prison.
A warrant was later issued for his transfer back to Miami-Dade County for a pending gun case.
However, the Broward Sheriff’s Office confirmed he was still in their custody until June 13, just a day before the Miami-Dade police raided Simmons’ home.
Miami-Dade police have admitted that they failed to check the Broward County Jail database and only reviewed local, state, and federal records.
They also overlooked the fact that Wiley was last connected to the address they raided back in 2018.
Blame and Investigation
The Miami-Dade police have attempted to shift some responsibility to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, suggesting that deputies should have verified Wiley’s status before his transfer to state prison.
Despite this, the police department has pledged to investigate the incident.
Lasting Impact on Simmons
Simmons has been left traumatized by the ordeal.
“I’m not sleeping, and I’m still having nightmares,” she told NBC Miami.
She added that the experience has been particularly distressing given her PTSD from her military service.
“It’s frustrating and scary because you see stories about people who look like me getting hurt or killed when police come to the wrong house, and that’s exactly what happened to me.”
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