Texas Woman Sues City of McKinney After SWAT Team Destroys Her Home

Vicki Baker has filed a lawsuit against McKinney, Texas after a SWAT Teams destroyed her home and left her child's dog blind and deaf.

Why Did A SWAT Team Wreck Vicki Baker's House?

According to the Institute of Justice, The incident happened in July of 2020 when Dallas police were in pursuit of a fugitive in McKinney. The fugitive, who the McKinney Courier-Gazette reports once worked as a handyman for Vicki, reportedly forced his way into the home and hid there.

The house was listed for sale at the time, but Vicki's daughter, Deanna, was there and recognized the man - identified as Wesley Little - as a suspect wanted for kidnapping a teen girl.

Deanna made an excuse to leave and called her mom, who alerted police.

After a long standoff, SWAT stormed the home using tear gas grenades, shattering the windows, doors and the outside fence. The tear gas grenades left Vicki's daughters dog deaf and blind, and completely destroyed the house.

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Vicki's Buyer Backed Out, And It Cost Her Big Time

At the time of the event, the home had been renovated and was under contract to be sold. Baker had to hire a hazmat team to come in and clean up following the tear gas grenades. The buyer backed out of the sale, and Baker's insurance company didn't cover most of the damage. The City of McKinney refused to offer any help as well.

Last March, Baker filed a lawsuit against the city in hopes to get compensated for the destruction of her property. A federal judge has ruled that the lawsuit can move forward.

IJ Attorney Jeffrey Redfern said, “The court recognized that the city of McKinney is not exempt from the Constitution. This is the first step towards Vicki getting her due, but it’s a big one. The government must compensate individuals when it deliberately destroys their property.”

The City of McKinney tried to have the lawsuit thrown out, but that motion was dismissed.

Baker isn't necessarily mad at the police. She knows they had a job to do, but told the Dallas Morning News, "[I]t's unfair place the costs...on me, just because the guy happened to pick my house and not someone else's."