Flash, bang … oops: police raid leads to lawsuit

A couple suing the city allege Winnipeg Police Service officers trying to execute a search warrant at their condominium complex rappelled down the side of the building, broke in their glass patio door and fired off a stun grenade before realizing they were in the wrong unit.

Saeid Ghavami and Shahla Shojaei, a married couple who are academics and scientific researchers at the University of Manitoba, filed the lawsuit in Court of King’s Bench last month over the Jan. 31, 2025 incident.

The claim names the City of Winnipeg and several officers involved in the operation, whose identities are, at this point, unknown to the couple, and are referred to as “John Does.”

Officers were attempting to execute the warrant on the third floor of the eight-storey Pembina Highway building, the court filing says. The couple lives on the fourth floor.

“The operation was not a spontaneous emergency response to circumstances unfolding inside the plaintiffs’ residence. It was a planned tactical operation,” the statement of claim says. “Accordingly, WPS had a reasonable opportunity and duty to verify the correct building, floor, unit, balcony, access point and target residence before deploying tactical officers and force.”

In failing to do that, the lawsuit argues, the officers forcibly entered the couple’s home “without lawful authority, reasonable grounds, consent or other legal justification.”

Police rappelled or otherwise accessed their unit’s balcony from the top of the building, breached and shattered the patio door to forcibly enter the residence, deployed at least one “flash-bang” stun grenade, then loudly and forcibly entered their condo, the suit claims.

Ghavami was inside the home at the time; Shojaei was not.

“The flash-bang devices and forced entry created an extremely loud explosive sound, intense flashes or light, smoke and/or residue, glass breakage, debris, confusion, panic and fear,” reads the claim.

“Saeid was near the window and/or patio area when the operation occurred. He was exposed at close range… with the forced entry and flash-bang devices.”

Ghavami “genuinely and reasonably believed” he was being violently attacked or at imminent risk of death or harm, the court papers say.

Shortly after entering, officers realized they had entered the wrong unit, the lawsuit says.

“The plaintiffs were not named in any warrant, were not suspects, were not targets and were not otherwise within the lawful scope of the operation,” the court filing says.

After the raid, the couple’s home was left unsecured, with broken glass and debris strewn throughout.

“The plaintiffs state that, rather than being treated with the dignity, seriousness and urgency required after a mistaken tactical police raid, they were left to navigate repairs, claims, cleaning, safety concerns, insurance issues and the continuing physical and psychological aftermath largely on their own,” the lawsuit says.

“The residence was boarded, taped or otherwise temporarily secured only after the plaintiffs objected to being left in an unsafe condition during extremely cold winter weather.”

The lawsuit argues the John Doe police defendants who were involved in planning and undertaking the operation are personally liable for their acts, along with the city.

The couple was traumatized by the incident, the court papers say.

Ghavami has suffered physically from trauma to his ears, cardiovascular stress and emotional effects consistent with post-traumatic stress, the lawsuit claims.

Ghavami and Shojaei are immigrants from Iran who experienced war, conflict and related trauma prior to moving to Canada, the court filing says.

The lawsuit argues the city should have known that a “violent tactical police entry into the home of innocent civilians” was capable of causing serious psychological injury, regardless of whether it was aware of the couple’s specific background.

The couple’s lawsuit argues the defendants were negligent, trespassed into their residence and on their belongings and breached their privacy and their Charter rights.

Further, the lawsuit argues, Ghavami was subject to assault, battery and improper use of force when the officers burst into the residence.

The couple is seeking various unspecified damages, including for repairs and for medical and psychological treatments after the incident, as well as punitive, aggravated or exemplary damages as a result of the defendants’ “egregious conduct, actions and failures.”

The couple’s lawyer, Kosta Vartsakis, did not return requests for comment Tuesday afternoon. The Winnipeg Police Service declined to comment.

The city has not filed a statement of defence yet.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca