“These things can’t continue to happen”: Woman speaks to News4 after botched MNPD raid

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    NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) — Azaria Hines, the woman who was at home when Metro Police mistakenly raided the wrong apartment, says she hasn’t had much sleep since the incident.

Now, Azaria says she feels unsafe in her own home.

Hines told News4 she had just finished a late shift at her job and was on the couch asleep and unclothed when she heard a loud banging on her door.

Before she knew it, Hines said police came bursting through the door with a battering ram, smashing the door frame and pointing guns at her.

Hines’ 15-year-old cousin and her 3-year-old nephew were inside the apartment at the time.

“We are very much traumatized. Everytime I think about it, I just want to cry,” Hines told News4. “I literally thought it was a dream. These kind of things need to stop. It just needs to stop.”

The botched raid happened at Edgehill Apartments, an affordable-housing property of the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency. Police said information from an outdated database led to the incident.

At a press conference Wednesday, interim Chief John Drake said two supervisors and an officer at the West Precinct would be decommissioned while the investigation continues.

On Wednesday a police commander visited Hines’ apartment and apologized on behalf of the department.

Hines told News4 she accepted his apology, but hopes the incident serves as an example.

“These things can’t continue to happen because people are losing their lives,” Hines said. “I’m not a criminal. Like I was literally scared in my own home. I’m not really comfortable there.”

Chief Drake admitted that what happened was a mistake and says it will never happen again, but Hines told News4 she isn’t so sure it won’t.

“I hope the police department, I hope that everyone can be a little more kinder and be a little more cautious when it comes to things like this, because everybody is not a criminal,” she said.

Hines told News4 she hopes there is some kind of training given to police for incidents like hers.

Police say they will continue to reach out to Hines and the two children involved in the incident.

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