JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — When a home is damaged during the execution of an arrest warrant, who foots the bill?
It's a question that has one homeowner in Clay County disgruntled after his home was damaged earlier this week by a SWAT team. Deputies attempted to serve a multi-felony arrest warrant.
Horace Jackson, 32, is facing multiple felonies for resisting an officer with violence as a result of the incident.
The Orange Park property owner, Jerry Moran, claims the home is unlivable. The fence was knocked down, windows were busted and the front door was bashed in. Inside the house: holes in the wall, debris everywhere and the ceiling in every room was stripped.
He estimated repairs would cost $25,000 and the task could take weeks.
"It's not gonna break me," Moran said. "But it's not a good feeling."
Moran rented the house to a tenant who allowed Jackson to sleep over. Moran said the renter was trying to be a good person.
Sheriff Michelle Cook said Jackson barricaded himself in the house during the execution of the arrest warrant.
After an extensive search, Moran said the 32-year-old hid in the narrow sub-ceiling of the house among the insulation. He claims that his home was destroyed as members of the team searched for him. Moran says Jackson must have climbed up the attic that was located in the garage.
Kim Varner, a former police officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, said there's a reason why SWAT stripped the ceiling.
"So a lot of times they're in the ceiling, they will punch certain parts of ceiling to make that person think that [police] are coming from that direction when they actually know he's over in a different section," Varner explained.
Varner said the homeowner is usually responsible. However, he says it's possible Jackson could be ordered to foot the bill as a result of court proceedings, since authorities were looking for him.
Meanwhile, Moran has to repair the house he's owned since 2015 at his own expense. He said Clay SWAT won’t pay, his insurance won’t cover it, and his tenant didn’t have renter’s insurance either, so all damages falls onto him.
"I just talked to him [the renter] on the phone, he asked me if he could come back when the house gets repairs," Moran added. "That's something we're gonna have to work on."
