The Portland City Council on Wednesday approved a $7,010 payment to a homeowner who had his door kicked in by police when they responded to the wrong address.

Officers mistakenly came upon Stanley Horak's home in the Irvington neighborhood when responding to reports of a woman with a knife in her chest in the early morning hours of February 5, according to a city memo.

"We hear this pounding on the door," Horak said. "I hear someone say, 'We're gonna have to kick the door in,' and bang, they kick it in."

Officers rushed in, only to find Horak, a retired attorney, and his wife Fay, a neuroscientist who works at OHSU, stunned awake by the chaos – and no medical emergency to be found.

Police realized they were at the wrong house and hurried to the correct one, just down the street, Horak said. Officers later returned to apologize and tell Horak he could file a damage claim against the city.

"They were very nice about it," Horak said. "Very polite and courteous."

He said it's fortunate that officers were not aggressive.

"Lucky I wasn't black, who knows what would have happened," Horak said.

At least the payment will fully reimbursed him for the damage to his door and its frame, Horak said, adding, "Mistakes happen."

-- Gordon R. Friedman

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