A cancer survivor has vowed to challenge an appeals court ruling stating that she is not entitled to a $60,000 payout after a SWAT team destroyed her home with explosives, toxic gas and armored vehicles while in pursuit of an armed fugitive.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month that it was necessary for police to use the measures to resolve a standoff at Vicki Baker’s home and that she should not be compensated for the damage – reversing an earlier decision in her favor by a federal judge.
The nightmare began when a man who had worked on her property, Wesley Little, stormed into her home with a teenage girl he had kidnapped in July 2020.
Baker was able to get out and call 911 to alert the police, and gave them the code to access to the property in McKinney, Texas. But her home was practically demolished when the SWAT team later stormed in using ‘highly destructive tactics’.
Lawyers from the Institute for Justice, who represent Baker, have now asked for another hearing and are prepared to take their demands for compensation to the Supreme Court.
Hellbound and Down 