Man says he was wrongly arrested by APD — again

Hostage report was for different address

Even in his own home, Wade Best has twice been in the wrong place at the wrong time in Albuquerque, he says.

Best, 55, filed a wrongful arrest lawsuit earlier this year against the Albuquerque Police Department — the second time he has sued the department claiming he was arrested without cause, according to court documents.

In 2005, Best won an $18,500 judgment plus attorneys’ fees in federal court over his 2003 arrest by a first-year officer who a jury found used excessive force.

Now, Best and his sister have filed another lawsuit against the department over a 2013 incident in which they were detained and the family dog was shot with a beanbag after the Albuquerque SWAT team arrived at the wrong address, according to the lawsuit.

The suit, which was transferred to federal court in September, said Best and his sister, Alison Tracey Best, were doing chores at their home in the 1700 block of Corte de Azucena on a June morning when Wade Best noticed police arriving outside. The officers were at the wrong house and thought they had arrived at a hostage situation. When Wade Best walked outside, he was quickly detained in “flex cuffs” that were too tight and hurt his wrists, according to the lawsuit.

Alison Best then walked outside and was also detained in a similar way. Then, another officer, who wasn’t named in the report, shot the family dog — a Siberian husky —with a beanbag shotgun. Hannah Best, an Albuquerque attorney and the Bests’ mother, arrived home and was able to persuade police to release her son, daughter and the dog, which had been placed in the back of a cruiser after being hit with a beanbag.

“However, the wrongful arrest of the Plaintiffs and the personal injuries to the Plaintiffs at the hands of the Defendants had already occurred,” the suit states.

“They even arrested the dog,” Hannah Best said in an interview. “These run-ins with police have been ridiculous.” Wade Best declined to comment.

The Bests sued the city of Albuquerque, the police department, Police Chief Gorden Eden, former Chief Ray Schultz and several unnamed officers for negligence and wrongful arrests. They are seeking damages to be determined by the court.

In a response to the lawsuit, the city denied nearly all of the allegations, including that the police arrested the Bests or that the Bests were injured, according to court documents.

Police officials didn’t comment on the lawsuit.

Robert Strumor, the Bests’ attorney, said Eden, Schultz, the city and the police department have been dismissed from the case. But the case against the individual police officers is ongoing.

In 2005, a jury found an Albuquerque police officer used excessive force when he arrested Best, who was at his home and walked outside to calm down his neighbor, a distraught 18-year-old in a domestic dispute, according to the lawsuit. When police arrived they tackled Best and he ended up face down on the ground while being arrested by officer Michael Arbogast, according to the suit.

Best’s shoulder was dislocated during that arrest and a Taser was used against him. He spent several hours in jail before he was released and received any medical treatment. His injured shoulder required surgery, according to court documents.

The U.S. Department of Justice in 2014 completed an investigation into the police department that found it had a pattern of using excessive force. The DOJ was critical of the department’s SWAT team, saying it lacked sufficient leadership and accountability to prevent the unnecessary use of deadly force. The department has since entered into a settlement with the DOJ that calls for many reforms, including that police change the way the SWAT team is supervised and how the team responds to incidents.