Elderly couple suffered broken bones, bruises when police raided wrong house, lawsuit says

An elderly Bushkill Township couple are among four family members who claim they were seriously injured when the Northampton County Drug Task Force raided their home by mistake.

Ada Anglemeyer, 78, claims she broke two front teeth and two vertebrae in her back during the raid in February 2018 at her home at 340 Old Allentown Road, according to a lawsuit filed Aug. 16 in federal court. She claims she wears a leg brace as a result of excessive force on the part of police.

The lawsuit says police were looking for methamphetamine but entered the wrong home. There are five buildings on the property, the lawsuit says.

It says these individuals suffered the following injuries during the raid:

  • Richard Anglemeyer, 79, suffered multiple bruises and scrapes, the suit says. It says he scraped his eye during the raid and suffers from severe emotional trauma. He’s Ada Anglemeyer’s husband, according to attorney Brian J. Zeiger of Philadelphia.
  • Jeffrey Anglemeyer, 56, exacerbated a previous upper body injury, the suit says. He’s Richard and Ada Anglemeyer’s son, Zeiger said.
  • Joseph Kluska, 45, needed surgery to repair his rotator cuff, the suit says. He’s Richard and Ada Anglemeyer’s son in law, Zeiger said.

The suit says the intended target of the raid, Mark Anglemeyer, wasn’t there when police came in. He’s also Ada and Richard Anglemeyer’s son, Zeiger said.

Mark Anglemeyer was charged with six drug offenses following the raid, including four felonies. All the charges were later withdrawn by the Northampton County District Attorney’s Office.

No methamphetamine was discovered during the raid, according to the lawsuit and police. Police said after the raid that “numerous” controlled buys of methamphetamine had been made from the home.

While police didn’t find methamphetamine, they did find 25 guns, homemade gun suppressors, Molotov cocktails, an ounce of marijuana, a marijuana plant, more than $20,000 and plastic bags with methamphetamine residue, according to the Colonial Regional Police Department.

Northampton County is named as a defendant. Attorney David MacMain took the case on the county’s behalf on Thursday, Aug. 22, according to the court docket. He didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment. A call to the district attorney’s office, which supervises the drug task force, wasn’t immediately returned.

Michael D. Enstrom and “Det. Srgt. Melinsky” are also defendants. Enstrom and Michael Melinsky work for the Colonial Regional Police Department. Colonial Regional Police Chief Roy Seiple said the raid was handled by the drug task force and any comment should come from the task force.

Other defendants are “Officer Happel” and John Zwally. Crystal Happel and Zwally both work for the Bushkill Township police force.

Attorney Gary Asteak said Bushkill Township’s officers acted appropriately during the raid. Asteak represents Bushkill Township. He said the department helped obtain the search warrant but its officers did not enter the building.

“Any of the allegations pertaining to the Bushkill Township officers … are completely misguided and obviously based on misinformation,” Asteak said.

The final defendants are John Doe Officer and John Doe Pennsylvania State Police Trooper. A spokesman for the state police said the department doesn’t comment on pending litigation.

None of the Anglemeyers was charged with a crime. Kluska pleaded guilty to possession of drug paraphernalia and paid about $700 in fines and court fees, online records say.

Tyeler Trinkley pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia as a result of the raid, court records say. The 22-year-old Bushkill Township resident was sentenced to a year of probation, records say.

The four-count lawsuit says police violated the plaintiffs’ civil rights, used excessive force and lacked the training to properly execute the warrant. It seeks more than $225,000 for each of the four counts.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.

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