Claim by Lakesha WheelerTHE CITY OF
DUB E MEMORANDUM
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
TRACEY STECKLEIN
PARALEGAL
To: Mayor Roy D. Buol and
Members of the City Council
DATE: May 14, 2009
RE: Claim Against the City of Dubuque by Lakesha Wheeler
Claimant Date of Claim Date of Loss Nature of Claim
Lakesha Wheeler 05/01 /09 02/09/09 Property Damage
This is a claim in which the claimant alleges that police used forced entry to gain entry
into her residence at 1202 White Street after a neighbor reported a disturbance coming
from the apartment.
According to the report of Kim Wadding, Chief of Police, Dubuque Police responded to
1202 White Street #1 for a possible physical disturbance. The complainant reported
hearing yelling and pounding coming from apartment #1. The complainant reported an
unknown male had left the apartment and then returned where the yelling and pounding
started again. The complainant could hear a female yelling and the sound of various
articles being broken. When police arrived no one answered the door or made contact
with the police. Due to the reported yelling and the sound of breaking articles, the police
forced the back door causing minor damage to the door frame.
Chief Wadding reports that based upon the information known at the time of the entry, the
forced entry was found to be reasonable and the actions of the officers were appropriate
and prudent. However, claimant is a tenant of this residence and not the owner. It is
therefore the recommendation of Chief Wadding to deny this claim, and approve a claim if
submitted by the owner, Swift/Heartland Trading Company, (managed by Executive
Management) if owner agrees to claimant's submitted estimate, or owner submits a
separate reasonable estimate. The City Attorney's Office concurs with this
recommendation.
BAL:tIs
cc: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
Kim Wadding, Chief of Police
Lakesha Wheeler
Swift/Heartland Trading Company, c/o Executive Management
OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY DUBUQUE, IOWA
SUITE 330, HARBOR VIEW PLACE, 300 MAIN STREET DUBUQUE, IA 52001-6944
TELEPHONE (563) 583-4113 / FAx (563) 583-1040 / EnnAIL tsteckle@cityofdubuque.org