Resident tells of injuries during police search

A Yuma woman says she may not fully regain her ability to walk after being injured by shattered pieces of a doorknob as police forced their way into her home.

Mary Lucero, 64, says she suffered a wound in her left foot Saturday when Yuma police used a special short-range bullet to break the lock on her front door.

Police were serving a search warrant at her home in the 500 block of 12th Avenue as part of an investigation into what is believed to be a gang-related slaying of David Duran the week before at Yuma Palms Regional Center.

Police have said they fired on Lucero's lock only after repeated requests failed to gain them entry into a "known gang house," but Lucero said she would have opened the door for officers if they had waited for her to do so. Police broke the lock by firing a frangible bullet or "soft round," which is designed to break apart on impact, preventing bullet fragments from traveling further and causing injury, according to John Pike, a defense analyst with Global Security.

Lucero said she wasn't struck by the bullet, but the doorknob, which was sent flying after the round was shot.

Doctors inserted five screws into Lucero's foot to help it mend, she said, but told her she may not recover full use of it. Once she is released from the hospital, she likely will go to a rehabilitation center and will need to use a wheelchair initially, she added.

"I'm not in good shape," Lucero said Thursday from her bed at Yuma Regional Medical Center. "I've had two surgeries and maybe a third on Friday. It depends on what the doctor says."

Joe Lucero, her 74-year-old husband, was injured in the upper chest and left arm by the shattered doorknob when YPD entered through their bedroom door, she said.

"I hope he doesn't get infected," Mary Lucero said. "He told me (his arm is) all blue."

He was treated and released from YRMC and is at home under the care of his son Michael, a resident of Tucson, Lucero said.

Officer Clint Norred, a Yuma Police Department spokesman, said the department's Special Enforcement Team announced their presence at the Lucero home from a vehicle public address system outside, then continued to identify themselves as they tried to gain entry to the bedroom, and only resorted to force when requests for entry did not yield a response.

Lucero recalled she was in bed when she heard voices over a loudspeaker. Lucero noted that she is overweight and has difficulty rising from a prone position but said she knew "more or less, it was the police."

YPD identified themselves and then kicked at the door twice, Lucero said, and she asked them not to do it anymore.

"I told them, 'Wait a minute, I'm going to open the door.' They were all yelling, 'This is the police department' or something. I asked, 'What are you looking for?' and they didn't specify who or what."

Lucero added that she told police they did not need to kick the door down, that she would open it for them, but "things happened so fast." Before she was fully aware of the situation, she was bleeding and couldn't move again until paramedics later carried her to a gurney.

Sabrina Moreno, 24, the Luceros' granddaughter, said police were looking for gang members as well as weapons.

"There was absolutely no weapons there," Moreno said. "They had my aunt and uncle (Michael and Dianna Lucero) outside questioning them about gang members and the guy they we're looking for - I believe it was Victor Laguna - he doesn't even live there."

Laguna was arrested that day as police served search warrants at various locations around Yuma.

Moreno said the only person living with the Luceros was another grandchild, Anthony Duran, who had moved in a week before the police search.

Moreno also said that when police first arrived at the Lucero home, they did not have a warrant yet to search the premises. It was only an hour and a half later that police presented a warrant, according to Moreno.

But Norred said the possibility of weapons on the premises prompted them to secure a high-risk warrant enabling them to search what he called a "known gang house." The police had been to the house 76 times since 2005 for various issues, he said.

It is police department policy not to discuss disputed issues in the media, Norred said. But he said the department investigates all formal complaints lodged against police procedure.

Norred said the remaining details of the investigation conducted at the house are still pending review by YPD.

David Duran, 18, was shot behind the Pac Sun at the Yuma Palms mall Feb. 14 after a fight erupted about 8:30 p.m. among several apparent gang members, police have said. He passed away as a result of his injury