Firefighter Sues Montgomery County Police Over 'No-Knock' Warrant

SILVER SPRING, MD — A firefighter from Silver Spring is suing the Montgomery County Police Department over a botched "no-knock" raid that he says traumatized his family in 2019.

The lawsuit filed by Hernan and Lilian Palma alleges that police handcuffed them and their teenage daughter, assaulted them, and held them at gunpoint in their home while executing a "no-knock" warrant at 4:30 a.m.

According to the suit, officers were looking for David Zelaya, whose mother was renting a basement apartment from the Palmas. Zelaya was being investigated for illegally possessing firearms, and for possession and distribution of dangerous controlled substances.

He didn't live with his mother, but authorities said he would sometimes stay with her in the basement apartment. The Palmas reportedly knew that Zelaya would visit, but did not keep track of when or how often.

The suit claims that authorities were tracking Zelaya for months and would see him repeatedly coming and going from the basement door. The Palmas lived upstairs, which was accessed through a separate entrance. The family was never suspected of any wrongdoing.

When seeking a search warrant, police did not tell the court that the Palmas lived in the house, and that there was no probable cause to search their portion of the home, documents stated.

Early on Sept. 13, 2019 — a day after police obtained a search warrant — tactical officers entered the home and woke up the family.

"At first, Hernan thought that robbers had broken into his home and were going to harm his family," the suit read. "He repeatedly asked the intruders who they were and what they were doing in his home, but they would not answer. One of the men pushed a long gun into Hernan's chest. Another punched him in the face. Then three or four tackled Hernan, stepped on him, and pinned him down with such force that his face cracked a wall."

His wife Lilian, who received dialysis treatment at home, was restrained. The officers applied "so much pressure to her shoulder that she feared her catheter would be ripped out," documents stated.

Lilian, Hernan, and their 13-year-old daughter were handcuffed.

More than an hour-and-a-half later, "officers uncuffed the Palmas but continued to ransack their home while holding the Palmas in their family room," the suit read. "After another hour, the (police officers) left the Palmas' broken home."

Zelaya was taken into custody.

The suit claims that the raid left the Palmas traumatized, feeling betrayed, ashamed, and afraid. Hernan had to take at least two weeks off from work to recover from his injuries.

The firefighter is still suffering from injuries sustained from the raid, most noticeable when he yawns or laughs, according to court documents. He also still has pain in both of his shoulders, as well as his right knee and ankle.

"The Palmas suffer from mood swings and have trouble sleeping since the raid. They are constantly afraid of the police, and (the daughter) is apprehensive about going out at night and scared to call the police if she is in trouble," the suit read. "The Palmas have installed cameras in and around their home in an attempt to make them feel safer — from the police."

In 2020, the Montgomery County Council passed a bill that limits the police department's use of no-knock warrants. But the lawsuit claims that policies should have been enacted earlier.

"By September 2019, the county and MCPD knew or reasonably should have known that the absence of policies and training concerning the proper procedure for obtaining and executing no-knock warrants posed a substantial risk to the safety, property, and privacy rights of Montgomery County citizens," the complaint read. "Its failure to enact policies and training to ensure compliance with the Fourth Amendment, and its pattern and practice of condoning the use of unnecessary no-knock warrants, demonstrated a manifest, deliberate indifference to the rights of Montgomery County citizens."