Andrew Leonard received a check from the city to repair his broken front door and a phone call from Mayor Sheila Dixon, more than two months after police stormed his house in a raid on the wrong address and one day after his plight was reported in The Baltimore Sun.
"We're done and satisfied and moving on with our lives," said Leonard, 33, who lives in the North Baltimore neighborhood of Medfield. "Everything is as it ought to have been, only much, much later than one would expect."
Leonard had been trying to recoup damages to his home since Feb. 25, when Baltimore police knocked down his front door and searched his home while investigating a drug case. After handcuffing and questioning Leonard, a chemist with no criminal record, police learned the home they wanted was actually two doors down.
After Leonard's claim for damages was turned down by the city law department, the Police Department pledged to follow up. In the meantime, he placed his damaged door in his backyard and called bulk trash pickup, only to get a $50 citation for having the door on his property.
Leonard, who paid the citation, had his money refunded last week, the day an article appeared in The Baltimore Sun. Officials said Leonard's claim for the door, however, would have to go through the Board of Estimates' approval process.
But on Friday afternoon, Leonard said, two city officials hand-delivered a $917 check, the average of the estimates Leonard had received to repair the damage.
He also received a call from Dixon, who apologized and said she was glad that Leonard and his wife enjoyed living in the city.
"Mr. Leonard's ordeal is a reminder to all city employees of the need to better communicate amongst agencies, within departments, and bring issues to the attention of the Mayor's Office when a constituent is not being rightfully served within the city," Dixon spokesman Scott Peterson said in an e-mail Tuesday. "The citizens, who are our bosses and pay our salaries, expect us to achieve at levels of perfection and we should always strive for that."
