This specifically relates to a search warrant that the five sheriff's officers executed at the wrong address on June 27, 2017. According to the Des Moines Register, a judge granted the officers' request for a search warrant at a Douds home as part of an illegal drugs investigation. However, the officers went to the wrong house. Michael Owings came home and found that his front door had been kicked in and that the officers were confiscating and destroying his personal property -- even after he offered proof that they were at the wrong home:
Despite two address markers and a sign on the front door that said “The Owings,” Van Buren Deputy John Zane and four other unnamed officers attempted to kick in the door. The officers ultimately cut the locked chain securing the door and “began to conduct an intrusive search” of the wrong property, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit further alleges that the officers uncovered multiple items during the search that established them to be at the incorrect residence. “Rather than terminate the search and depart the premises, defendants consciously disregarded the information and continued searching,” the lawsuit said.According to the lawsuit, Owings told the officers that they were at the wrong house when he arrived, which garnered this response: "We own this property."
Keep in mind that Van Buren County is pretty tiny. About 7,570 people live there. And Douds is even tinier, with a population of merely 165 people. It amazes me that the Sheriff's Department would make this type of mistake. Not only that, but house that they were supposed to search is a two-story home and Owings' home is a mobile home.