Marijuana Policy Project

One day after Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo called on the U.S. Justice Department to launch a civil rights investigation into the Prince George's County Sheriff's Department's forced entry into his home, Prince George's County Police Chief Melvin High announced Friday that he called Calvo and told him he and his wife Trinity Tomsic were innocent victims of drug traffickers.

"The Calvo family members were the apparent victims of a local drug ring," High said. He said he called Calvo "to express my sorrow and regret for that and for the loss of the family's beloved dogs."

High issued the statement after the county police department announced two arrests in a drug parcel delivery scheme. An investigation is underway.

The raid happened July 29 when Calvo brought in a box allegedly containing 32 pounds of marijuana into his home in the 8500 block of Edmonston Road. The box was addressed to Calvo's wife Trinity Tomsic. Members of the Prince George's County Sheriff's Department's SWAT team stormed into the house and shot Payton and Chase, Calvo's two dogs. According to published accounts, the Prince George's County Police Department believed they had a no-knock warrant. However, later reports indicated they did not have such a warrant.

Berwyn Heights Police Chief Patrick Murphy, a 35-year veteran, said the 2003 case of State v. Lee "decided that the law considered breaking the door to be such a violent act" that it is only allowed under specific circumstances. He said the circumstances were: A judge's order, an urgent situation where announcing a search would put police in danger or a reasonable belief that would lead to suspicion.

"The general rule is they must announce," Murphy said. He said under most circumstances, the police must knock, announce their presence and be denied entry before they can break down the front door.

Several elected officials, including state Sens. Jennie Forehand (D-Dist. 17) and Paul Pinsky (D-Dist.22), Dels. Tawanna Gaines (D-Dist. 22) and Alfred Carr, Jr. (D-Dist. 18) and fellow mayors Adam Ortiz of Edmonston, Judith "J" Davis of Greenbelt and Malinda Miles of Mt. Rainier attended the press conference to support Calvo.

Calvo said he was relieved that he and Tomsic were cleared of wrongdoing, but he was still fuming over the incident.

"It is a great relief to us to be removed from the glare of suspicion," Calvo said. "We knew we were not involved. Our friends, neighbors and community knew we were not involved. But people who didn't know us did not really know what to think."

Calvo accused the police department of not doing appropriate reconnaissance into his family before forcing their way into his home. He blasted the police department and the sheriff's department, saying they didn't move quickly enough to exonerate him and Tomsic.

"Now that the truth has come out, the leadership of our two county law enforcement agencies have made things worse," Calvo said.

Pinsky said he and other lawmakers wanted to "lend their voices and ask about this debacle.

"We're here not so much to point fingers, but to make corrections," Pinsky said. "This just can't be acceptable."

Tomsic briefly addressed the press and political figures, sobbing as she recalled a comment from a small child who visited the house after the raid.

"A little girl came to our house," Tomsic said. She said the little girl asked her, "if the police shoots your dogs dead, how can I trust them?"

Calvo's and Tomsick's attorney Timothy Maloney issued a statement Aug. 6 blasting the county police for "illegally" invading Calvo's house, tying up Calvo and Tomsic's mother Georgia and killing Payton and Chase.

"The suggestion that Mayor Calvo's mother-in-law's reaction to seeing a SWAT team in her front yard justified an illegal no-knock entry is outrageous," Maloney said. "The statement that the Calvo family dogs were threatening law enforcement is demonstrably false."

Calvo sent a letter Thursday to Grace Becker, the acting assistant attorney general for civil rights. He asked the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division to investigate the county's sheriff's and police department's search warrant policies and procedures.

"Since 2005, Maryland law has required a no-knock warrant," Calvo wrote. "Last Saturday, [Aug. 2], the spokesperson for the county police stated that the court had issued a no-knock warrant. This is untrue."

Prince George's County Police Cpl. Stephen Pacheco in the department's press information office said the department would not answer questions about the case.