A homeowner is suing police in Greenwood Village, Colorado, after they destroyed his house with explosives to flush out a shoplifter hiding there. The cops maintained a 19-hour siege to collar Robert Seacat, who “stole items from WalMart” and fired a gun at them during the showdown.
Police offered Leo Lech $5000 for the loss of his home.
“If you look at the photos of Osama Bin Laden’s compound, I would say his house looks better than mine does,” Lech said at the time.
After inspectors declared the home a total loss, the city offered Lech $5,000 in compensation.
Since then he’s spent hundreds of thousands of dollars repairing the home.
He’s now filed a federal lawsuit, claiming civil rights violations, and unjust compensation from the government.
This story was from last year; his case doesn’t seem to be going well.
Attorney Rachel Maxam, who represents Lech, isn’t giving up. After U.S. District Court judge Philip Brimmer ruled against her earlier this year, she appealed the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. …
But from the beginning, attorney Maxam knew that increasing that figure would be difficult. After all, the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act restricts suits against municipalities such as Greenwood Village, and complaints against individuals can only succeed if they’re found to have acted willfully and wantonly
This situation has the whiff of “rich urban enclave” to it, where local government exists to keep other local government (and their taxes) out, and functions more or less as a glorified, armed HOA.