ATLANTA (AP) - A 19-month-old boy was in a medically induced coma Thursday after being injured by a flash bang device authorities threw into a Habersham County home during a drug raid.
Bounkham Phonesavanh was asleep in a playpen at a house in Cornelia early Wednesday morning when the raid began, the boy’s mother Alecia Phonesavanh told local media outlets. She added that her family was visiting from out of town and was staying at an in-law’s house.
Authorities were serving a no-knock warrant on the house after an informant told investigators he bought drugs from the home, Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The device that was used during the raid was meant to distract the occupants of the home while authorities forced entry, Terrell said.
“It landed in his playpen and exploded on his pillow right in his face,” Phonesavanh told the television station. The boy suffered burns and cuts and was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital.
Terrell called the incident a terrible accident.
“The last thing you want is law enforcement to injure someone innocent,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted Terrell as saying. “There was no malicious act performed. It was a terrible accident that was never supposed to happen.”
Cornelia Police Chief Rick Darby told the television station that the raid was part of a multijurisdictional effort that took place just before 3 a.m. Everyone in the house was asleep at the time, Phonesavanh said.
A 30-year-old man was arrested on drug charges, but Phonesavanh said her family doesn’t have insurance and she’s unsure of how to pay for the toddler’s medical bills.
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