Winnipeg man says he's traumatized after police mistakenly launched stun grenades into condo
Winnipeg police say they've undertaken full review after incident that happened while executing warrant
A Winnipeg man says he's been traumatized after explosive devices — which he believes were stun grenades — were mistakenly launched into his condo during a police operation.
Saeid Ghavami says he was on the phone with a friend around 9 a.m. on Jan. 31 when he suddenly heard "two or three explosions."
"The explosion was so loud and horrible that my friend thought that it was an earthquake," he said.
Ghavami says police told him a mistake led to what he thinks were stun grenades being launched or thrown into his fourth-floor condo.
While the Winnipeg Police Service has apologized to Ghavami, he said a lack of further followup and response has left him stressed and angry.
"Since what has happened to me, honestly, I have lost my hope and my confidence [in] police," he said.
After the explosions in his condo, "I decided to go out because there [was] some smoke inside the building, and the noise was so loud that it affects my hearing," he said.
He found police outside the building, who said at the time they couldn't answer any questions about what was going on, citing a "special operation," said Ghavami.
About a half hour later, he and his wife — who wasn't home when the incident happened — went back into their suite, where they found their home littered with glass, living room window shattered and planters destroyed.
While they were trying to make sense of what had happened, an officer came to their door and told him they had "made a mistake," and explained they were trying "to catch a big drug dealer that they had been monitoring for many months," said Ghavami.
"Then they tried to make their mistake in a way that they explain [to] us, 'Yes, we did you a favour and catch a big drug dealer that's dangerous for the society,'" he said.
Ghavami also shared photos of his bedroom following the incident showing pieces of glass on the floor and bed, from a broken window.
He and his wife hadn't seen that damage yet when they first returned to the unit, but he said the officers "knew our other room has been affected, we didn't go there, but they knew that."
A short video posted to social media on Jan. 31, labelled "Pembina Hwy.," shows two police officers rappelling down the outside of a tall building. Ghavami told CBC the video shows his building on the day of the police incident.
The Winnipeg Police Service said it wouldn't comment on the video, but that it is aware of the incident.
In a statement to CBC, the police service said it was executing a search warrant at the time.
The service executes hundreds of search warrants every year, "and an event such as this is exceedingly rare," but "a full review has been undertaken" to prevent future incidents, the police service's statement said.
Hearing affected by loud bangs, man says
Ghavami says police met with him and his wife a few days later, and an officer promised to follow up with more information.
He and his wife emailed the officer on Feb. 19 and again on March 12 respectively, but got no reply until Wednesday, after CBC News reached out to police multiple times, said Ghavami.
The officer apologized in the email for not responding earlier and said they look forward to "work[ing] together to bring this incident to a satisfactory resolution."
Ian Scott, who used to head Ontario's police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit, said police can make mistakes, but finding a resolution could be better than dealing with any potential legal action.
"They might even say, 'Look, we're really sorry. We're prepared to pay for all of the damage to the apartment and … get involved with fixing the window and whatever damage happened within the apartment,'" he said.
Scott also underscored the traumatic nature of the incident, adding stun grenades could "have a very high decibel level — 140 to 170 decibels can cause permanent hearing loss" if someone is close enough to them.
"There can be serious injury and hurt and damage that can come out of the use of these stun grenades," he said.
Ghavami said since the incident, he's had trouble sleeping and believes his hearing was impacted.
He also had to take 10 days off from his work as an associate professor at the University of Manitoba, affecting his research and work with students.
Police arranged for Ghavami's living room window to be boarded up the day of the incident and a damaged bedroom window was also sealed. Some of his furniture was also taken by his insurance company after it was deemed unsafe, he said.
Going back and forth with the insurer over covering expenses so they can move out while repair work is being done has also added extra stress, said Ghavami.
"We want to get back to a normal life, which means a lot," he said. "We haven't had a normal life for more than 45 days, and I don't know how long it will take."