Bodycam footage shows Chicago police detain naked woman during wrongful raid

Anjanette Young secured and released the bodycam footage from the incident

Dec 15, 2020

In February 2019, Chicago resident Anjanette Young was the subject of a mishandled raid carried out by police. Now, the court system has forced the police to turn over bodycam footage which revealed law enforcement pointing firearms at a nude, defenseless Young as she pleaded for help.

CBS Chicago broke the story in November 2019 and described how the 49-year-old used Thursday nights, the day of the raid, as an evening of self-care. Young shared how she watched television and enjoyed time alone, even avoiding contact with close freinds and family, who were aware of her weekly ritual.

“My friends and family know — don’t call, don’t text,” Young said to the news outlet. “This is my night to myself. And that’s always been on a Thursday night.”

In the bodycam video, police are shown yelling at Young to put her hands up as she dropped the only thing covering her body. The armed officers pointed weapons at the confused woman, who insisted on covering up and being allowed to call for help. She called out ” You’ve got the wrong house. I live alone,” repeatedly telling the officers they had the wrong house.

Anjanette Young www.theGrio.com — Screnshot via CBS Chicago

“I can just remember crying and yelling, ‘Please let me put my clothes on…you have the wrong place,” she said. “I can see it all over again…I can see them walking around my house and feeling like, feeling humiliated,” she described to the news outlet last November. “Before I knew it, there was a swarm of police officers,” she said. “They had these big guns, long guns with scopes and lights… I thought they were going to shoot me.”

Documents obtained by CBS Chicago show, however, the police officers were indeed at the wrong address. According to the report, the police department did not fully research information shared by an informant which resulted in the officers arriving at Young’s door.

Young’s attorney, Keenan Saulter, filed a federal lawsuit against the city and police department on her behalf. As the legal action progressed, the body-cam footage was obtained and publicized by CBS Chicago in a new report. Young filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and the CPD was forced to release the footage as part of her lawsuit against the police.

“I feel like they didn’t want us to have this video because they knew how bad it was,” Young said. “They knew they had done something wrong. They knew that the way they treated me was not right,” she said to CBS Chicago.

The officers eventually covered her with a blanket while her hands were cuffed behind her back. Later, a female officer present escorted Young to her room to put on clothes and placed her back in handcuffs after she was dressed. Toward the end of the incident, officers apologized.

“I do apologize for bothering you tonight,” the sergeant said according to CBS Chicago. “I assure you that the city will be in contact with you tomorrow.”

CBS Chicago claimed that shortly before the broadcast, the city’s lawyers filed an emergency motion in court in an attempt to stop the bodycam footage from airing. According to the report, the suspect the police hoped to target in the raid lived next door and had no relation to Young. The outlet also found the 23-year-old suspect was under electronic monitoring and police could have easily tracked his actual location.

In the initial November 2019 report that broke this story, CBS Chicago revealed Young is one of dozens of victims of botched raids by the Chicago police. In an investigative documentary, the outlet tracked 10 families who have filed wrong raid lawsuits in the midwestern city.

Have you subscribed to theGrio’s new podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!

TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!