U.S. Marshal’s Office says HCSO not involved in case
Rory Ryan
The Highland County Press
A Paint Township resident is alleging law enforcement officers entered her home without proper justification Thursday, April 11.
According to Hill Road resident Holly Bolin, a special weapons and tactics team (SWAT), along with officers from Highland County, were outside her home at approximately 8:15 a.m. Bolin said she looked out a window and noticed two cars, one unmarked and one from the Highland County Sheriff’s Office.
“I was walking through my kitchen and saw the sheriff’s car and walked out front,” Bolin said. “An officer comes up to my house and yells ‘Freeze’ with a gun pointed at me. He asked, ‘Where’s William?’”
“I asked, ‘Who’s William?’ They said, ‘We want your boyfriend.’ I told them, ‘my boyfriend’s Nick Brown.’ They said ‘that’s him.’ They entered the house. They did not read him his rights. They did not show a warrant. They arrested Nick.”
Highland County Sheriff Ron Ward said the officers who executed the search warrant were with the U.S. Marshal’s Office’s Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team (SOFAST).
“Our office simply accompanied them at their request,” Ward said. “This was not our deal. In fact, our deputies were the ones who discovered they had the wrong person.”
Ward said HCSO deputies noticed that the search warrant identified the suspect as a black male. Brown is caucasian.
“It was clearly the wrong individual,” Ward said.
Bolin said she had three young children ages 6, 4 and 7 months in the house at the time.
According to Bolin, Nick Brown was released from the Highland County Justice Center at approximately 10 a.m. Thursday.
“This was very traumatic for my children. They don’t understand what a SWAT team is or why they were here. We are looking for an attorney,” Bolin said.
Ward said he has asked for a spokesperson from the U.S. Marshal’s Office to address the situation in a phone call with The Highland County Press.
Patrick Sedoti of the U.S. Marshal’s Southern District of Ohio office in Columbus told The Highland County Press it “looks like a glitch in the paperwork out of Franklin County (the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office).”
Sedoti said Highland County Sheriff Ron Ward and his office were not involved in this case. Sedoti said the suspect is wanted on state drug charges.
Additional information will be made available from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, he said.