SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. -- A Spokane Valley couple said they want an apology from Spokane Police Department.
They said officers recently surrounded their home, handcuffed them and questioned them about a hit-and-run. A crime they said they knew nothing about. Spokane Police officials said the couple ended up in the middle of their investigation and they were doing their jobs.
On Saturday, February 24, Dakotah Anderson, her fiancée Tommy Weed and a friend got home from dinner just after midnight. They were not home for long before they began to notice police cars surrounding their Spokane Valley home.
"We were just looking out the windows at them. You know we were wondering what's going on here,” Weed said.
Anderson said she pulled out her phone to take pictures.
"The second I lifted up my phone. I started getting a phone call,” Anderson said.
A police officer was on the other end of the line. She said the officer told her they wanted to question them about a hit-and-run crash they were investigating.
"He said, 'Everyone in the house needs to surrender right now or we will be forced to come inside and take you out,'” said Anderson. "We all three, like, very calmly walked out with our hands up and as soon as we opened the gate they grabbed our hands and dragged us out to the driveway."
Weed said it was humiliating.
"They immediately grab my cell phone. Throw my cell phone on the ground. They immediately start putting me in handcuffs. We were all just immediately separated and cuffed and patted down. We all got searched,” Anderson explained.
Spokane Police were investigating a hit-and-run near the intersection of Thor Street and Hills Court. They were looking for a man and woman who ran from a rollover crash. Investigators said they tracked the suspects with a K9 to Anderson and Weed's home about a mile away.
Spokane Police Officer John O’Brien said police who were on the scene found footprints from the crash scene that led right up to the door of the home.
"We have a crime, we have a victim, and we have an obligation to do an investigation. Were these people involved? Were they witnesses? Did somebody come to their house to seek refuge? That's why we do an investigation,” O’Brien explained.
O’Brien said they had reason to believe the people involved in the crash were in the house and they may have been be armed. Investigators said they found an empty gun holster in one of the vehicles involved in the crash.
"It's a dangerous job and we would like to be safe, like we would like the community to be safe. So we pat them down for weapons, if there is a reason to believe that they had been armed. In this case an empty holster in the truck, one of them could have been armed with a gun,” O’Brien said.
Police did not find any weapons on Anderson, Weed or their friend. Spokane police released a clip of body camera video. In the video, you see Anderson being questioned by police. The officer is heard explaining why they are there and asking her questions about where they were that evening. After being questioned for about 20 minutes, all three of them were let go.
"We were all so in shock, we didn't even know what to say, like, I just wanted to be released and let back into my home. I was so scared. We were treated beyond the way they should be able to treat a criminal even if they had proof it was that person, we were treated horribly," Anderson said.
"We totally understand that when police are at a location, your home for instance that you might have some apprehension. In this particular case the officers were very professional, low key, no raised voices and they were very clear as to what was happening,” said O’Brien. "We're still going to show them respect, we have a job to do and we have an investigation to do and we can do that with dignity and respect and still get to the conclusion."
Spokane police encourage people to follow up with them if anything like this ever happens. They are open to answer any questions people might have.
There have been no arrests made in the hit-and-run case. Investigators are looking for any tips or leads.