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Oct 16, 2024

Officers allegedly damaged MRI machine after police rifle snatched by magnets

LOS ANGELES (WKRC) - During an attempted drug raid, police officers allegedly damaged a MRI machine after its high-powered magnets ripped a rifle from an officer's person. The owners of the NoHo

LOS ANGELES (WKRC) - During an attempted drug raid, police officers allegedly damaged a MRI machine after its high-powered magnets ripped a rifle from an officer's person.

The owners of the NoHo Diagnostics Center in Los Angeles are suing the Los Angeles Police Department for allegedly violating their constitutional rights with an unjust drug raid at the clinic.

Officers allegedly raided the facility on suspicion of it being an illegal marijuana farm, apparently evident from the high energy costs and "distinct" smell of cannabis, according to the lawsuit acquired by Law360.

The raid occurred on Oct. 18, 2023 while a single female employee was working, according to the lawsuit. Officers detained the worker and searched the facility, but allegedly found nothing of interest.

Officers released the employee and told her to call her manager as they continued to search other rooms, the lawsuit said. These new rooms included one containing an MRI that the lawsuit said had a sign explicitly warning against bringing metal into the room. MRI machines use extremely strong magnetic fields for internal imaging, so most metals are strictly prohibited around them.

Despite this, an officer walked into the room with his rifle "dangling... in his right hand, with an unsecured strap," which was quickly ripped off his body and pinned to the MRI machine, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit claimed that another officer used a sealed emergency shut down button for the MRI, which damaged the machine and wasted thousands of liters of helium gas. The officer grabbed his lost gun and left the room, leaving behind a loaded magazine, the lawsuit said.

The owners claimed that the officer's behavior during the raid was "nothing short of a disorganized circus, with no apparent rules, procedures, or even a hint of coordination."