Bellevue family sues FBI over ‘terrifying’ raid

Dees Illustration

Brian Bowling
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

The lasting impact of the raid on Gary Adams’ home became clear in a comment from his 3-year-old granddaughter during a recent trip to the pharmacy.

“She said, ‘Granddad. Police. Hide,’ ” Adams, 57, of Bellevue recalled Wednesday while discussing the federal lawsuit he filed against the officers who burst into his home March 3.

Led by FBI Special Agent Karen Springmeyer, about a dozen officers used a battering ram to enter Adams’ rented Orchard Street home in a search for Sondra Hunter, then 35. But Hunter hadn’t lived at that address for almost two years, while Adams and his family had been living there for more than a year, according to the lawsuit filed by Adams and 10 other family members.

The family crowded into a Downtown conference room with their lawyer, Timothy O’Brien, to discuss the case.