A single mother and her six children are picking up the pieces after several police agencies, including the Cherokee County Sheriff’s deputies, local Galena, Kansas police, the Kansas Bureau of Investigations and the FBI used all their might to raid her home looking for 40-year-old Doug Alexius, an alleged member of a gang known as the “Joplin Honkies.”
The law enforcement agencies engaged in a 20-hour standoff, despite the homeowner insisting he was not in the house. Neighbors watched as police used military-style equipment to punch huge holes in the house, rip out the family’s Christmas tree and basically destroy destroy everything in the house:
"It's not pretty."
Vonda Maklin picks up the pieces
"It's like the destroying of your dream you know," she says after authorities tore up her neighbor’s home, poking holes in the walls with an armored military vehicle to coax out the suspect, Joplin Honky member Doug Alexius.
Neighbor Vonda Maklin says it was especially hard to watch the children’s Christmas get ruined:
Friends and neighbors like Vonda collect the family's belongings and board up the windows to deter looters. She says the single mother of six is devastated after this ordeal.
"Probably the hardest part is just seeing they ripped their Christmas tree apart, and out their window it goes."
There is a way for law enforcement to pay for the damage:
FBI spokeswoman Bridget Patton said the homeowner will have to file a claim to be reimbursed.
"We will pay for any damages that were done to the residence during the search for the wanted individual," Patton said.
She also said items that were removed from the home would have been removed for officers' safety or because those items could have been used by the suspect to conceal his location.
No word on why the children’s toys and Christmas trees were a threat. Video from the raid shows extensive damage throughout the inside and outside of the home. Police said they used an infrared camera that showed a heat spot in the attic and they believed Alexius was in the attack. They used a military-style tank to put a massive hole in the home (seen here) and to smash out all the windows. Screenshots of other damage can be seen below:
Cherokee County Sheriff David Groves released the following statement:
“After obtaining a search warrant for the residence, tactical entry teams from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were utilized to search the property. Throughout the search, it was believed Alexius was held up in a small portion of the attic, which was not conducive for law enforcement to safely access,” stated Cherokee County Sheriff David Groves.
“While we were on scene for several hours, our objectives were to insure the safety of nearby citizens, officers and to safely apprehend the fugitive. With time on our side, and no need to place residents or officers at un-necessary risk, a thorough and very methodical
search of the home was conducted.”
“Although the suspect was not successfully captured, many residents I spoke with today expressed concern for the officers’ safety and were appreciative of our efforts to apprehend a dangerous fugitive while making it clear that law enforcement is serious, and willing to go to great lengths, to make sure Galena is not
viewed as a safe harbor for criminals to seek refuge,” concluded Sheriff Groves.
You can see an interview with neighbors, footage of the extensive damage and an interview with Sheriff Groves at KOAMTV.com.