A Los Angeles police officer’s unsecured rifle was sucked into a MRI machine during a botched October 2023 raid at a Van Nuys medical imaging business that was mistaken for an illegal pot operation, according to a federal lawsuit.
NoHo Diagnostic Center alleges it was mistargeted by the LAPD, which believed the business was a front for an illegal marijuana cultivation operation because it had tinted windows, security cameras, significant electricity usage and a “distinct odor” of cannabis that was likely from a nearby shopping plaza.
The raid did not yield any marijuana, evidence of cultivating activities or arrests.
Attorneys for NoHo Diagnostic did not immediately respond to a request for comment and the LAPD said it does not comment on pending litigation.
“The whole operation was nothing short of a disorganized circus, with no apparent rules, procedures or even a hint of coordination,” states the suit filed Sept. 18 that lists the city of Los Angeles, the LAPD and several police officers as defendants.
NoHo Diagnostic is seeking unspecified compensatory damages for the alleged violation of its constitutional rights.
The lawsuit alleges that one of the defendants, Officer Kenneth Franco, who was assigned to the narcotics enforcement detail for the LAPD’s North Hollywood Division, provided false probable cause statements to support an Oct. 12, 2023, search warrant application for the raid.
Franco, a 15-year veteran of the LAPD with a dozen hours of narcotics training, allegedly conducted surveillance at NoHo Diagnostic several times in 2023.
However, Franco failed to consider that NoHo’s high electricity usage, which he attributed to cannabis cultivation, was likely caused by the operation of the MRI machine and other medical equipment, or that tinted windows were installed for patient privacy, the suit states.
On Oct. 18, 2023, Franco and other LAPD officers searched NoHo Diagnostic and detained its lone on-site employee.
An LAPD officer dangling a rifle in his right hand with an unsecured strap entered the MRI room, ignoring a magnetic field warning sign on the door that displayed photographs of prohibited metal objects such as scissors, screwdrivers, keys, watches, and credit cards, the suit states.
When the officer entered the room, the powerful magnets in the MRI machine attracted the loose rifle and secured it to the device.
The suit states that the MRI machine was equipped with a sealed emergency pull button intended to be activated solely in the event of a “genuine emergency,” such as a health risk to a patient inside the machine, a fire or an evacuation situation.
Rather than seeking assistance from the on-site employee, the officer allegedly made a “unilateral decision” to activate a sealed emergency button on the machine resulting in the evaporation of about 2,000 liters of helium gas and extensive damage to the device.
“The LAPD officer then grabbed his rifle, this time wearing the strap over his shoulder as he should have when he entered the MRI room, and proceeded to walk toward the entrance, leaving the magazine full of bullets on the floor of the MRI office,” states the suit.