On a weekly basis, we hear regular citizens complaining about use of excessive force by the police. And while the complaints come regularly, they're hard to prove. But tonight, we'll show you the door, the blood, and the bullet which were left after police stormed into a home in search of a burglary suspect. The family of Leon Yorke told Keith Swift today they have no problem with police detaining Yorke, but this morning, the officers went about it the wrong way. Here's their story.
Keith SwiftReporting,
This is the front door which Denbeigh Yorke says police literally kicked down when they barged into his Berry Street home in Lake Independence at 5 this morning. Yorke wasn't home but his daughter Fiona was. She says that she along with her three children - the youngest only five - were startled out of their sleep by the sound of gunfire - just inches from where they were.
Fiona Yorke,
"I was frightened. About 5 o'clock I got up this morning and I heard a gunshot. The first thing I heard was a gunshot and then I heard stomping so I opened up the window by my room and I saw a black man standing. I didn't know that it was a police. So I ran out here because I heard the stomping and my kids were inside and when I came out here the police were already in the room with my brother and I just saw them beating him and they took him. I couldn't do anything."
Fiona says her brother Leon Yorke was beaten so badly that he bled. She showed us these bloodstains on the ground in the room as proof. Denbeigh Yorke also showed me this expended nine-millimeter shell, which he found in the bedroom. That is one of the two shots police allegedly fired in the house. It was a commotion that woke up the entire neighborhood. Kerisha McCauley watched it unfold from her window next door.
Kerisha McCauley, Neighbor
"I was asleep and then I heard them knocking down the door and then they started to bust shots so that was what I heard."
Denbeigh Yorke admits his son is no angel. In fact he described his son to us as "nothing nice." The problem Yorke has is with the police who stormed into his house unannounced and recklessly destroyed his door.
Denbeigh Yorke, Father of Accused
"I want the police to tell me why they have him hold. I know he is nothing nice, as I always say, because when he starts nobody can't slow him down; he has a temper. He likes to fight back, it doesn't matter who it is. The idea I don't like is how they came to stomp down my door. I don't like that idea and I want something done about that. I really want something done about my door. I can't sleep with my door like that tonight. Look at my window, they broke up my window; that is craziness. I won't say they only have bad police. They have good and bad police. I am not painting all alike but this is past the limit to stomp down a man's door like that."
And while Denbeigh wants his door fixed - Fiona worries that her children will never be the same after the terror that was visited on them on.
Fiona Yorke,
"My kids were afraid. My baby, I don't know where she got to. Because she was so frightened she ran to the neighbor's house and I don't know but these things shake up kids. They came in a rough way this morning for my brother. They said it is something he did. They didn't have to come in that way. They could have come, get him, and you know. They had gunshots in the room and my baby was in the next room sleeping. Two gunshots were fired. It was a horrible scene for you to just get up. It is a shocking thing so it just has me trembling right now."
And so as she closed the screen door - which is the only door she has left standing - it is apparent the door isn't the only thing that will need to be fixed Berry Street.
Yorke says he expects the Police Department to pay for the repair of his door. His son meanwhile is still detained.
