OVERLAND PARK, Kan.-- — A University of Missouri-Kansas City student feared for his life Monday night when he heard banging on the door of his Overland Park apartment.
After calling 911, he learned that officers were at the unit near 132nd street and Antioch Road, attempting to serve a Wyandotte County warrant for someone who no longer lived at the home.
Garrett Weaver and his girlfriend have lived in the residence since last year.
"It was very concerning," Weaver said of Monday night's incident. "And then we saw the flashlights, and my girlfriend saw somebody walking around back there behind our apartment. And she was very upset. I mean, it was scary. And so, like, my first instinct was call 911 because someone's trying to break in."
But Monday's incident wasn't the first time Overland Park officers were at Weaver's home to serve the warrant. His mother contacted 41 Action News, stating that police also were at the home on Jan. 7 looking for the previous resident.
Following the first incident, Weaver told Overland Park police the suspect they were looking didn't live there and to have Wyandotte County change the address on the warrant, but that never happened.
"It's very frustrating, because we've been through this once, and it was no big deal at first," Weaver said. "But when they're coming by at night, that's a lot more concerning."
OPPD Chief Frank Donchez said warrants need to be updated with current information because officers are only able to go by what is in their system.
"It's not always us putting it in the system," Donchez said. "That’s where the problem lies."
The Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in a statement Tuesday that a previous tenant at the address had “an active, no-bond probation violation warrant." That tenant was in Wyandotte County custody from March 2020 to November 2020, at which point he was transferred to the Johnson County Detention Center, where he remains in custody.
Donchez said his understanding was that the previous tenant had been incarcerated in Johnson County since November, with the warrant issued in January.
"I don't know where the disconnect is there," Donchez said.
However, Garrett said that Overland Park police have been "extremely helpful" in trying to resolve the issue.
"We want Wyandotte County to get this fixed, because it could happen somewhere else," Weaver said, "where I mean, people that aren't as lucky or it's a different area, and police go into it with a different mindset."
41 Action News' calls led to the Wyandotte County Sheriff's Office updating their records and Overland Park Police adding another layer on what is a routine task for officers.
"Starting today, when we go to a house for a warrant, and it's the wrong place, that address will be flagged," Donchez said. "We're all human so there's, you know, there's that factor. But we're going to do what we can to make sure that these types of things don't happen again."
