US police officer gets gun stuck to MRI machine in bungled cannabis raid

One officer wandered near the machine 'dangling a rifle in his right hand'. Photo / 123rf

Bumbling US officers who raided a medical diagnostics centre thinking it was a cannabis farm got a gun stuck to the powerful magnets of an MRI machine, a California lawsuit has alleged.

The owners of the facility are claiming damages against the Los Angeles Police Department for an operation their lawyers describe as “nothing short of a disorganised circus”.

Their lawsuit details how a SWAT team swarmed Noho Diagnostic Centre after the squad’s leader persuaded a magistrate to issue a search warrant.

Officer Kenneth Franco drew on his “12 hours of narcotics training” and discovered the facility was using more electricity than nearby stores, the lawsuit said.

“Officer Franco, therefore, concluded [the facility] was cultivating cannabis, disregarding the fact that it is a diagnostic facility utilising an MRI machine, X-ray machine and other heavy medical equipment – unlike the surrounding businesses selling flowers, chocolates and children’s merchandise,” the suit said.

After bursting into the diagnostics centre in October last year, the SWAT team found only offices, a single employee and medical devices, including a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine, a diagnostic tool that uses high-powered magnets to create detailed scans of a patient’s body.

Disregarding a sign warning that metal objects should be kept well away, one officer wandered near the machine “dangling a rifle in his right hand”, the lawsuit said.

“Expectedly, the magnetic force of the MRI machine attracted the LAPD officer’s loose rifle, securing it to the machine,” the suit said.

Instead of seeking expert advice on how to retrieve the weapon, one officer decided to activate the emergency shutdown button.

“This action caused the MRI’s magnet to rapidly lose superconductivity, leading to the evaporation of approximately 2000 litres of helium gas and resulting in extensive damage to the MRI machine,” the suit said.

The officer then retrieved his gun, but left a magazine full of bullets on the floor of the MRI office, the suit says.

The suit, which was filed in California last week, seeks unspecified damages and costs.

A spokesman for LAPD told AFP the department does not comment on open or pending litigation.