LEAWOOD, Kan. — A Leawood family says they were humiliated after police raided their home.
They say investigators told them they were there to search for marijuana. The family of four got no further explanation even after nothing was found. They felt powerless, but all this caught the attention of lawmakers who are fighting to give them their power back.
Bob and Addlyn Harte’s home was searched by investigators for two hours and the whole time they had no idea why.
“I was kind of getting up, and I just heard this banging,” Bob Harte said.
“I’m going to forever have this image of Bob face down hands behind his head, with an assault rifle over him,” Addlyn Harte said.
Bob and Addlyn sat quietly on a couch in their living room with their two kids as police raided their home. Investigators finally told them they were there to search for marijuana.
“I had never smoked pot. Bob hadn’t either,” said Addlyn.
“I’m telling them ‘you’re in the wrong house,’” Bob said.
Investigators never found marijuana and for a year the Harte’s never found any answers to their questions, until they sued.
The family finally got their hands on a probable cause statement. They say it said the search started after they spotted Bob at a hydroponics store. Bob said he was there to buy supplies for his in-home garden he was growing tomatoes in.
They say the statement also described finding stems in the Harte’s trash. Addlyn says that was left over herbal tea she brews every day.
“We felt so violated by the government,” she said.
But Kansas lawmakers are trying to make it right. They passed a bill that will give the Harte’s and other families more rights. It’ll give them access to Kansas police records that justify arrests and search warrants.
“It’s huge and it restores some faith in the process,” said Addlyn.
