“We don’t need a warrant.”

Clark County, WA – After receiving a call from Kentucky about a domestic disturbance, police in Vancouver, Washington, forcefully entered a family’s home, ripped an infant from a mother’s arms, and later choked the woman until she was unconscious. Police did not have a warrant or apparent probable cause to enter the premises, and they later tried to collaborate stories and destroy the evidence of their attack, unaware that a video of the incident had already been uploaded to iCloud.

The altercation took place on February 16, at the home of Ilya Petrenko and his wife, Stephanie. According to reports, the caller from Kentucky claimed Stephanie’s hands were broken (it’s unclear whether the caller referred to her by name), however, after Stephanie confirmed that she was unharmed, the officers refused to leave and tried to gain access to the house.

After more than an hour of politely (it’s true, watch the video) asking the officers to leave, a bewildered Ilya began recording the incident. The police had tried to coerce the couple into letting them into the house until Stephanie started to become increasingly (and understandably) agitated, at which point the officers forced their way in, stating “we don’t need a warrant.”

After climbing through the window, one of the officers grabbed Stephanie by the hair, pulling her back. Moments later, officers pried the baby from her arms and then assaulted her.

Although the altercation cannot be seen in the video, you can hear Stephanie in the background struggling with police. After her voice goes silent for a few moments, you can hear her exclaim to the officers that they almost killed her. Stephanie claims that the police had choked her until she was unconscious.

In The Free Thought Project’s report:

“According to Ilya, Stephanie was strangled until she lost consciousness and when she awoke, the assaulting officer was taking pictures and verbally conspiring with the other officers to imply Ilya had caused the injuries. However, video footage from before the police assault clearly shows that Stephanie’s neck and arms are free from bruises or marks.”

The couple was arrested after the altercation, and although the children had gone into the care of a family member, police arrived at the relation’s home without a warrant and took the children into custody. There were not any circumstances of neglect, abuse, or exigence.

Ilya and Stephanie are still in the process of trying to get their children back, and are taking donations to help with court costs and lawyer fees.

While in custody, police apparently deleted all photos and videos from Mr. Petrenko’s phone; however, luckily, the video above had already been uploaded to iCloud. According to information provided by the couple in their YouTube video, at least one of the officers involved, Sandra Aldridge, has been under investigation by Internal Affairs due to numerous complaints. These include perjury, falsifying reports, fabrication/planting evidence, suppression/destruction of evidence, unlawful surveillance, cyber-stalking, criminal impersonation, harassment, and retaliation.

In a later video, Ilya and Stephanie gave an account of the events:

So to wrap it up: after confirming that Stephanie was safe and uninjured, officers swarmed the couple’s window with guns and tasers drawn—thereby risking the lives of the children within—and escalated a situation which had begun over a false report of domestic abuse. Then, after assaulting the mistaken victim themselves and collaborating stories, they illegally took the children. Once the officers had gained access to the property, police blamed the couple for not opening the door to the mob of cops in their yard, stating that they hadn’t illegally entered the property. Towards the end of the video, Officer Sean Donaldson and Petrenko have the following conversation:

Donaldson: We came to talk to you guys.

Petrenko: Yeah, but what about this now? What’s all this?

Donaldson: We offered to [unintelligible] open the door.

Petrenko: So you break in?

Donaldson: We didn’t break in. We went through the open window.

Petrenko: Oh, wow.

Donaldson: The window was open.

Petrenko: We tried to close it and you forced entry. Okay, this is stupid. Look, God’s watching everything. All the people online are watching all of this. Everybody sees it. Everybody hears it.

Donaldson: Is there a YouTube username that you’re gonna post it on there?

Petrenko: No.

Donaldson: Oh. Where you gonna post it at then?

Petrenko: Doesn’t matter. You guys are probably gonna try…

Donaldson: Nowhere?

Nowhere indeed, Sir.

Smile and wave to the world, “officer” Donaldson—you made it to AnonHQ.

LET VPD CHIEF MCELVAIN KNOW WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THE CONDUCT SEEN IN THE VIDEO!! His email address is: [email protected]

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