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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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He’s Dead, Go Away,|Widow Tells NYPD

BROOKLYN (CN) - A widow has posted her husband's death certificate on her front door in a failed attempt to stop police from continually barging into her home in search of him, she claims in Federal Court.

Karen Fennell claims police from the New York City Police Department's 79th Precinct in Bedford Stuyvesant barged into her home without a warrant in July 2013 and arrested her son, James Jordan Jr., on bogus charges of criminal weapons possession.

He was released and charges against him were dropped.

Fennell's husband, James Jordan Sr., had died on March 17, 2006.

This year officers have showed up at her door on "at least four separate occasions this year," claiming they had an arrest warrant for the dead man, according to the lawsuit.

"Even though the plaintiffs have been forced to take the extraordinary step of affixing James E. Jordan's death certificate on their front door ... officers still continue to force their way into the plaintiffs' home under the guise of executing an arrest warrant against said deceased individual," according to the complaint.

"On virtually each and every occasion that defendant officers unlawfully entered into the plaintiffs' home, they proceeded to perform a warrantless search of the said home."

As a result, Fennell and her son say they have become "terrified to live in their own house."

She seeks punitive damages for false arrest, unlawful entry, racial profiling, abuse of authority, harassment, discrimination and a host of other charges.

She is represented by Ugochukwu Uzoh.

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