Bumbling US cops who raided a medical diagnostics center thinking it was a cannabis farm got a gun stuck to the powerful magnets of an MRI machine, a California lawsuit has alleged.After bursting into the diagnostics center in October last year, the SWAT team found only offices, a single employee an...
Bumbling US cops who raided a medical diagnostics center thinking it was a cannabis farm got a gun stuck to the powerful magnets of an MRI machine, a California lawsuit has alleged.
The owners of the facility are claiming damages against the Los Angeles Police Department for an operation their lawyers describe as "nothing short of a disorganized circus."
Their lawsuit details how a SWAT team swarmed Noho Diagnostic Center after the squad's leader persuaded a magistrate to issue a search warrant.
Officer Kenneth Franco drew on his "twelve hours of narcotics training" and discovered the facility was using more electricity than nearby stores, the lawsuit said.
"Officer Franco, therefore, concluded (the facility) was cultivating cannabis, disregarding the fact that it is a diagnostic facility utilizing an MRI machine, X-ray machine and other heavy medical equipment -- unlike the surrounding businesses selling flowers, chocolates and children's merchandise," the suit said.
Instead of seeking expert advice on how to retrieve the weapon, one officer decided to activate the emergency shutdown button.
"This action caused the MRI's magnet to rapidly lose superconductivity, leading to the evaporation of approximately 2,000 liters of helium gas and resulting in extensive damage to the MRI machine," the suit said.
The officer then retrieved his gun, but left a magazine full of bullets on the floor of the MRI office, the suit says.
California still has a 10 round magazine capacity limit for ordinary private ownership, I believe. (Last I heard the ruling striking it down was stayed).
So, did this cop negligently just leave a super illegal thing (by California legal standards) on the floor for some medical technician to eventually pick up and get legally slapped for?
A round consists of a casing, a primer, gun powder, and a bullet. A bullet is just a hunk of metal. What was left behind should have been addressed as a magazine full of live rounds, or live ammunition. (simplified version, there are many different types of rounds)
I agree, imagine if you were just sitting around figuring out what to do and the gun went off in the MRI possibly killing someone. The mistake was entry in the first place, not this
But it's also not unusual that E-Stops can cause severe damage to a machine when used. After all, such switches are meant to instantaneously bring everything to a screeching halt for safety reasons without worrying about the machine.
And in this case, the E-Stop is meant to prevent the MRI from exploding and sending pieces of shrapnel flying everywhere. MRI machines can be quite dangerous in operation.
MRI machines do explode and send shrapnel everywhere. Emergency stopping them causes the helium that's trapped in the part that rotates the magnets to become a gas, then expand as the magnets superheat. In some cases, this causes an understandable explosion.
You would have pressed it to retrieve a personal item? Seriously? Like if you're visiting a factory and your phone fell on the assembly floor you would run to the first red button you could find and press it without asking anyone? If so, please never get on an airplane.
I’m wondering the timeframe. Did the gun SWOOSH out of his hand and then he slammed the button right in front of him worried the gun was going to explode or something?
What’s unforgivable is cops in LOS ANGELES even using one penny of taxpayer dollars to even think about cannabis. I guess they’re protecting state coffers - illegal buds = no tax revenue.
I’d want them to respond to complaints about growers near schools or something… and try to be proactive I suppose if a residential neighborhood reeks…
But reviewing all business power consumption and going on fishing expeditions WTF?! In LA?!?
Like my redneck ass town wouldnt consider that enough due to the amount of folks qith home machine shops and specialist equipment. But somehow LA isn't supposed to have that.
If it was me, i would ask the people there how to retrieve my stuff.... I might get into trouble but hey in this scenario im a police who lose their gun to MRI machine so I'll look stupid either way
The ones I'm familiar with don't say stop on them and they have a plastic guard over them to make you be really sure you want to hit it. It also causes damage to our tools (giant electron microscopes) because it has to make itself safe instantly, which means neutralized a lot of electricity, various gasses, and mechanical parts in an instant.