Bumbling US cops who raided a medical diagnostics center thinking it was a cannabis farm got a gun stuck to the powerful magnets of an MRI machine, a California lawsuit has alleged.After bursting into the diagnostics center in October last year, the SWAT team found only offices, a single employee and medical devices, including a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine, a diagnostic tool that uses high-powered magnets to create detailed scans of a patient's body.

Bumbling US cops who raided a medical diagnostics center thinking it was a cannabis farm got a gun stuck to the powerful magnets of an MRI machine, a California lawsuit has alleged.

The owners of the facility are claiming damages against the Los Angeles Police Department for an operation their lawyers describe as “nothing short of a disorganized circus.”

Their lawsuit details how a SWAT team swarmed Noho Diagnostic Center after the squad’s leader persuaded a magistrate to issue a search warrant.

Officer Kenneth Franco drew on his “twelve hours of narcotics training” and discovered the facility was using more electricity than nearby stores, the lawsuit said.

“Officer Franco, therefore, concluded (the facility) was cultivating cannabis, disregarding the fact that it is a diagnostic facility utilizing an MRI machine, X-ray machine and other heavy medical equipment – unlike the surrounding businesses selling flowers, chocolates and children’s merchandise,” the suit said.

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  • microphone900@lemmy.ml
    2·
    3 hours ago

    Another article said it was the office’s high power consumption and the SMELL of marijuana… in a state where marijuana is legal. And the ‘AC was too loud.’ And two people dressed similarly because I guess scrubs, uniforms, or a dress code are suspicious as hell. And security cameras. Like, holy goddamn shit guys. The officers, especially the team’s leader who requested the warrant and the judge who signed it, should be reprimanded for sheer incompetence.

    If this is all it takes for a raid, my favorite cheap Chinese food spot should be raided, too. Hell, they get a ton of customers coming and going so they’re probably dealing, too!

    According to the lawsuit, the raid of Noho Diagnostic Center stemmed from an LAPD officer’s application for a search warrant.

    The officer said there had been a noise complaint about the medical center’s air conditioning units, and cannabis was possibly being cultivated inside, the complaint says.

    He repeatedly surveilled the property in 2023 and reported the “distinct odor of live cannabis plant and not the odor of dried cannabis being smoked” — as well as tinted windows, security cameras and two people dressed similarly, according to the complaint.

    The officer believed these were signs of a hidden marijuana growing operation, and efforts to expand it, the complaint says.

    He also found that the medical center wasn’t licensed to grow cannabis and, because of this discovery, determined the facility was violating California’s health and safety code, according to the complaint.

    The officer considered his observations as “probable cause for cannabis cultivation,” and a search warrant was issued, the complaint says.