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Police raid on wrong Elyria, Ohio, home leaves 17-month old special needs boy in ICU after cops threw two flash grenades 'hitting baby and covering him in glass and smoke' | Daily Mail Online

By Ruth Bashinsky For Dailymail.Com

Published: 16:09 EST, 15 January 2024 | Updated: 19:28 EST, 15 January 2024 Glass Ceramic Cookware

Police raid on wrong Elyria, Ohio, home leaves 17-month old special needs boy in ICU after cops threw two flash grenades

Police in Ohio searching for a teen on weapons charges raided the wrong home, seriously injuring a 17-month-old special needs boy with a heart defect.

The incident took place around 2.15pm Wednesday when a swarm of officers from the Elyira Police Special Response Team busted into the home on Parmely Avenue. The raid was captured on a ring camera.

Reida Jennings' niece, Courtney Price, 25, and her 17-month-old son, Waylon May, were visiting from Kentucky and staying at her home. The toddler was awaiting open heart surgery that is scheduled for next month.

During the bust, Price said the officers threw two flash bangs through the window. The grenades hit near her son, who was sitting in a swing near the window, and covered him in glass and smoke.

The terrified mother told Fox8 News that guns were pointed at her and she feared she'd be shot if she ran to her child. 'One second everything was normal, 15 seconds later our world was flipped upside down,' she recalled.

Authorities in the town about 20 miles from Cleveland said the raid was part of an investigation - one reportedly looking for a teen on weapon charges. The police claimed that the devices, 'diversionary devices,' used do not produce burns and do not contain pepper gas or chemical agents.

The suspect was not found at the home. 

A horrifying ordeal took place in Ohio when a swarm of officers from the Elyira Police Special Response Team busted down the door of Reida Jennings home on Parmely Avenue looking for a suspect

Waylon May, 17 months, was injured in the raid when Elyira Police Special Response Team raided the home. He is in a children's hospital in the intensive care unit being treated for 'chemical pneumonitis, inflammation of the lungs and irritation of the lungs and the soft tissue around the lungs,' according to his mother, Courtney Price 

The baby had been sitting in a swing when dozens of officers busted down the door of the home on Parley Avenue last Wednesday, allegedly throwing two grenades and seriously injuring the baby

Price was handcuffed and then dragged out of the home as she pleaded with police to help her son. 

'I kept screaming my baby, my baby! He's on a ventilator, my baby's in here!,' she said.  

Price said, the officers told her not 'to worry about my baby,' as she told the news outlet she was held outside for nearly 45 minutes as her sick and wounded baby was inside the house.

She described his condition as 'blood red, choking, gasping for air.' 

The Elyira police said in a statement that the warrant and subsequent raid by the Elyria Police Special Response Team is part of an ongoing criminal investigation.  Authorities claimed they announced themselves before busting in the home. 

During the tactical operation, police said, two diversionary devices, commonly known as a 'flash-bang' were deployed outside of the residence,' the police said in a statement.

'These devices produce sound and light that is noticeable in day or night conditions and are intended to distract the suspects attention,' the police said.

'Diversionary devices do not produce a continuous burn and they do not deploy or contain any pepper gas or chemical agents.'

Police said, the child's mother informed the officers the child had a pre-existing medical condition.

They said the Elyria Police Detectives, Elyria Fire Paramedics and the mother assessed the condition of the child, confirming the child did not sustain any apparent, visible injuries.

Police alleged the child's mother informed detectives that she intended on taking the child to the hospital due to the child's pre-existing illness unrelated to the tactical operation, but did not have an available car seat for transportation.

To help assist, officials said Elyria Police detectives called Lifecare Ambulance to the scene to provide any medical attention that EMS deemed necessary.

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