Prince George's County Settles Suit Over Raid Of Md. Mayor's Home

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (WJZ) -- Police mistakenly raided a local mayor's home, killing his two dogs in the process.  Now the incident is forcing police to make changes.

Andrea Fujii spoke with Mayor Cheye Calvo about Monday's court settlement.

Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo has been on a mission for nearly 30 months after the Prince George's County SWAT team broke into his house, cuffed him and his mother-in-law, interrogated them for hours and killed his two black labs.

"Obviously there were harms to individuals like my family and me, but it's also not good law enforcement.  Not investigating things to rushing in with SWAT teams and making SWAT your investigation as opposed to what you'd expect," Calvo said.

He has agreed to settle his lawsuit with the county.

"By settling, we're able to be more precise in getting good reforms.  Had we gone to court, we may have in fact gotten more money at the end of the day, but I don't think P.G. County would be a better place for it," Calvo said.

He says the previous County Executive Jack Johnson, who is now facing federal corruption charges, would not budge on reform.  With the new administration, he's legally demanding change for the treatment of animals, no-knock warrants and SWAT teams.

"They actually represent best practices and the things that any law enforcement agency in the state of Maryland or in the country should do," he said.

Calvo was mistakenly linked to a drug operation that mailed drugs.  At the time, law enforcement refused to apologize.

"It's really meaningful to me and my family that Rushern Baker is willing to lean into this and actually try to make those changes," he said.

The settlement will be finalized by the end of February.