A South Kelso woman has hired an attorney after she says her home was mistakenly raided by members of the Lower Columbia SWAT team when officers targeted a neighboring property linked to suspected drug dealers.
Amelia Nisbet, 19, said, in the early hours of Feb. 25, armed SWAT officers broke down the door to her house, in the 1400 block of South Fifth Avenue in Kelso. She shares the rental with her boyfriend, Kobe Aguilera-Thomas, 22, whom she said officers dragged outside in his underwear. Her car was also scratched during the search, she added.
Both sides, the couple and the police, say they did nothing wrong.
Nisbet alleges SWAT officers entered their house roughly 40 minutes after they entered their neighbors' home.
That's where Amanda M. Avery, 36, and Roddy Eric Avery, 51 lived. Sean Grady Vangrol, 44, was staying with the Averys and all three were targets of the raid, according to the application for the search warrant.
Nisbet alleges SWAT officers mistakenly raided the wrong address, while police say both structures were on the same property and OK'd under the warrant, which listed the target address as 1402 S. Fifth Ave., Kelso.
But Nisbet said that's neither her nor her neighbors' address. The county assessor's office lists different addresses than the property management company that rents the units.
The issues raise questions about the legality of the Averys' rental, which appears to be a shed-like structure next to Nisbet's single-family home, as well as possible confusion when the search warrant was filed.
Where is the home?
Nisbet's rental unit is located about 90 feet from the address listed on the search warrant. Nisbet said the property has three units.
Her address is 1408 S. Fifth Ave., Unit C, and she's lived there since 2013, she added.
But that's not what the county assessor's office reports. Its records show the single-family home Nisbet rents as 1408 S. Fifth Ave., without any unit specified.
The office shows 1402 S. Fifth Ave. — where the Averys lived on Feb. 25 — as undeveloped land that appears to be a green shed-like structure.
Sharp Property Management lists the rental space as 1408 South Fifth Ave., Unit B.
In response to a public records request, the Cowlitz County Building and Planning Department told The Daily News there is an active investigation into the home at 1402 S. Fifth Ave. to see whether construction on the site occurred without the right permits.
The three-bedroom unit where the Avery's lived was available to rent on Sharp Property Management's website for $1,850 a month as of Friday.
Cowlitz County Prosecuting Attorney Ryan Jurvakainen said Nisbet's attorney also sent county law enforcement a letter to preserve evidence in the Feb. 25 raid.
Specifically, a lawyer with Greene & Lloyd, PLLC of Puyallup requested the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office preserve any cell phone, body camera, camera and video footage from the case.
A legal rental?
Cowlitz County Chief Criminal Deputy Troy Brightbill said Nisbet's home was covered in the search warrant because the structures share the property. SWAT teams members searched Nisbet's unit and later cleared it. He said the two people inside were not connected to their investigation.
Brightbill also said the property had multiple structures that were used for housing, in which the property owner either didn't obtain the legal permits or did not record the units as residential.
"I found no record of any legal addressing for multiple residential units on this parcel or the neighboring parcel," he wrote in an email.
According to an eviction lawsuit filed by Sharp Property Management on March 26, the Averys lived at 1408 S. Fifth Ave., unit B. The lease agreement lists both Roddy and Amanda Avery as the tenants, court records show.
According to paperwork filed with the court, Sharp alleges the Averys broke their lease agreement by "participating in numerous illegal and unlawful activities" at the property, as well as "engaging in numerous instances of criminal activities (and) illegal drug activities which affected the use and enjoyment of the other tenants and caused damage to the premises."
After the raid and as of June 25, the unit was made available to rent through Sharp's website.
The Cowlitz County Building and Planning Department reports staff are investigating the property at 1402 S. Fifth Ave. — where the Avery's lived — for the possibility that alterations to physical structures occurred without completing an application and obtaining required permits. Those who violate the rule are committing a civil infraction, a department representative said.
County assessor records show Shawn and Linda Coverdell of Clatskanie own both 1402 and 1408 S. Fifth Ave., but neither could be reached for comment.
Raid arrests
Law enforcement received tips over the past two years about alleged illegal activity at the Averys' home, placing it under surveillance, court records show.
As stated in the application for a search warrant, investigators used a confidential informant to find information about the Averys and Vangrol, in exchange for leniency on upcoming criminal charges.
The informant reported the Averys sold meth, fentanyl and prescription drugs at their South Kelso home, which included a camper trailer and large gun safe.
During the week of Feb. 17, the informant told officers Vangrol was living at the Averys' and also kept illicit drugs there.
In a news release, law enforcement reported finding prescription drugs, illegal drugs, a short-barreled semi-automatic AR-15 rifle, tools used in vehicle thefts and a stolen U-Haul flatbed trailer at the Averys' home during the Feb. 25 search.
Roddy Avery was not arrested that day because he was not at the property, the release states, but two other people were present: Amanda Avery and Vangrol.
Sheriff’s detectives report spotting Roddy Avery in March driving on Pleasant Hill Road in Castle Rock, and searched the vehicle the next day, finding what they suspected to be fentanyl, meth and other evidence from a February search at his South Kelso home.
Law enforcement report locating him by using cell phone data, that showed signals from a nearby tower.
Vangrol and Amanda Avery are both listed in Roddy Avery's police report as co-arrestees, but criminal charges are not filed for them in Cowlitz County Superior Court involving the case.
Roddy Avery is charged with the felonies of first-degree possessing stolen property, first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, and violating the Uniform Controlled Substance Act. He pleaded not guilty on Aug. 19.
Court records show he has a scheduled hearing on Sept. 16. to set a potential trial date.
