Wow.. just wow.. This guy made someone upset. It sounds way worse than Mexico. I hope this gets a LOT of coverage.
Based on accusations made by Witaschek’s ex-wife, a gun recovery unit visited his house. Feeling he had nothing to hide, he allowed them to search his house. They found and confiscated a Civil War-era Colt revolver even though it is an antique and completely legal to own without registration. The cops also took a box of .40 caliber ammunition, but did not charge him at the time.
One month later on June 7th a 30-man SWAT team showed up at Witaschek’s house with a search warrant. They pointed guns at him and his girlfriend, forced them to the floor and cuffed them. Witaschek’s teenage son was in the shower at the time of the raid. The cops used a battering ram to take down the bathroom door and pull the son out completely naked. All four of Witaschek’s children were herded into a room crying.
The SWAT team tore Witaschek’s house apart, doing $10,000 in damage. What they found was a dud shotgun shell that misfired on a hunting trip and was kept as a souvenir, and the bass casing from a spent .270 rifle round. They also recovered a holster and a box of muzzle-loading bullets, neither of which are illegal even in D.C.
Witaschek initially faced 2 years in prison and $2000 in fines for the shotgun shell and the spent casing. Prosecutors offered him a deal to plead guilty to one charge of unlawful possession of ammunition with one year probation and a $500 fine. He rejected the offer as a matter of principal. A year after the fact, prosecutors added an additional charge for the first warrantless search which netted the box of .40 cal ammo.
