Courtney Price Lawsuit: $5M Elyria Raid and Fraud Acquittal

Courtney Price, the Elyria, Ohio mother whose 17-month-old son was hospitalized after a January 2024 police raid on the wrong house, has two active federal lawsuits pending. The first, filed in October 2024, seeks $5 million from the City of Elyria and its police chief over the raid itself. The second, filed in October 2025 against Lorain County officials, alleges that fraud charges later brought against Price were retaliation for suing the city. A jury acquitted her of those charges on April 16, 2026.

The First Lawsuit: $5 Million Against the City of Elyria

Price and Redia Jennings, who rented the home at 331 Parmely Avenue, filed suit on October 2, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. The case is captioned Price et al. v. City of Elyria et al., No. 1:24-cv-01707.¹ Named defendants include the City of Elyria and Police Chief William Pelko.²

The complaint brings federal claims for unreasonable search and seizure and excessive force, and state-law claims for gross negligence, false imprisonment, assault, and battery.³ It alleges roughly a dozen officers in tactical gear broke down the door, smashed windows, and pointed weapons at the occupants while searching for a juvenile suspect who had not lived at the address in over a year. The suit alleges officers knew or should have known the suspect no longer lived there.⁴

Elyria Law Director Amanda Deery declined to comment on the suit at filing.⁴

What Happened to Waylon May

The damages in the lawsuit center on Price’s son, Waylon May. On January 10, 2024, Elyria’s Special Response Team executed a search warrant for firearms tied to a burglary. Officers announced their presence, waited about six seconds, then used a battering ram and deployed two flash-bang diversionary devices, one of which was placed on a pole outside a window and shattered the glass.⁵

Waylon, then 17 months old, had pulmonary hypertension and an atrial septal defect and was on a ventilator. Price said he was in a swing directly below the window and was left covered in glass, “blood red, choking, gasping for air.”⁶ A GoFundMe for his care described burns to his eyes, chest, arm, and neck. He was diagnosed with chemical pneumonitis, and doctors believed he may have inhaled smoke from the raid or had it drawn through his oxygen machine. He spent 10 days in the pediatric ICU at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, and a scheduled open-heart surgery had to be delayed.⁷ Court filings also describe a ruptured eardrum.²

The Elyria Police Department said paramedics who assessed Waylon at the scene found no “apparent, visible injuries” and that its flash-bang devices “do not produce a continuous burn and they do not deploy or contain any pepper gas or chemical agents.”⁷

The Contested Question of the Address

Whether officers hit the right house is central to the case. Price told reporters the juvenile suspect had not lived at 331 Parmely Avenue in over a year, that police had visited at least five times during that period, and that the landlord had informed them of new tenants. She said officers acknowledged the wrong address to a family member after the raid. Audio from her Ring doorbell recorded an unidentified voice saying, “Woah, it’s the wrong house.”⁵

The City of Elyria said “probable cause existed to believe the juvenile lived at 331 Parmley Avenue,” with the address “confirmed by detectives through three different sources” and by the suspect himself before the warrant was executed.³ School records and the stepfather’s concealed handgun permit also listed that address, though by the time of the raid the family had moved to a different home on the same street.⁸ No weapons were found in the home Price and her son were in.²

The Fraud Case and Acquittal

After the raid drew national attention, supporters raised $48,502 through a GoFundMe for Waylon’s care. Elyria police then asked the Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office and the sheriff’s office to investigate how Price used the money.⁹

A Lorain County grand jury indicted her in November 2024 on telecommunications fraud, grand theft, and falsification in a theft offense. Prosecutors alleged she diverted donations to personal spending, including about $2,300 on two Apple iPhones plus transportation and meals, and that $12,000 was used by Redia Jennings to repair fire damage at the Parmely Avenue home after a January 19, 2024 fire.¹⁰ Price pleaded not guilty.⁹

The case was tried in the Lorain County Court of Common Pleas before Judge Chris Cook. On April 16, 2026, the jury returned not-guilty verdicts on all counts.¹¹

The Second Lawsuit: Retaliation Claim Against Lorain County

In October 2025, before her criminal trial, Price filed a second federal lawsuit in Cleveland against the Lorain County Board of Commissioners, Sheriff Jack Hall, and former Sheriff Phil Stammitti.¹² It seeks at least $5 million and alleges wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution over the GoFundMe charges, conspiracy to violate civil rights, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and retaliation for the earlier suit against Elyria.⁹

Attorney Mark Biggerman said in the complaint that “the indictment was retaliatory, and the grand jury’s findings were premised on false information and false charges brought by the sheriff’s office.”⁹ Price is represented by William A. Carlin of Carlin & Carlin, Richard T. Herman of Herman Law, and Biggerman.¹³

Where the Cases Stand

On September 25, 2025, U.S. District Judge Pamela A. Barker granted the Elyria defendants’ motion to sever the Lorain County claims, ruling that the raid and the later prosecution did not arise from the same transaction or occurrence. Price was directed to refile against the Lorain County defendants as a separate action within 10 business days.¹³ Both civil cases remained active as of her April 2026 acquittal.¹⁴

An independent administrative review of the raid, carried out by the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office at the request of Elyria Mayor Kevin Brubaker, concluded that Elyria detectives had probable cause and that officers “properly followed their policies and procedures, as well as the law.” No disciplinary actions or policy changes were publicly announced as a result.¹⁵ That review is administrative and does not resolve the civil claims, which will be decided in federal court.

1
UniCourt. Price et al. v. City of Elyria et al.
2
CaseMine. Price v. City of Elyria, 1:24-cv-1707-PAB
3
FOX 8 Cleveland. Lawsuit Seeks $5 Million for Elyria Police Raid
4
Cleveland.com. Family Files Federal Lawsuit Against Elyria Over Police Raid at Wrong House
5
NBC News. Ohio Mayor Orders Probe After Woman Alleges Police Raided Wrong House, Injured Toddler
6
KPTV. Family Says Police Raided Wrong House, Injured Sick Toddler
7
CNN. Elyria Ohio Police Flash-Bang Toddler Ventilator Raid
8
Chronicle Telegram. Sheriff’s Office: Elyria Had Probable Cause in Parmely Ave. Search
9
Cleveland.com. Woman Sues for $5M Over Criminal Charges After Botched Elyria Police Raid Sent Toddler to Hospital
10
Chronicle Telegram. Kentucky Mom on Trial Over Alleged $48,000 GoFundMe Fraud
11
Cleveland 19 News. Elyria Woman Whose Home Was Mistakenly Raided Found Not Guilty
12
Cleveland 19 News. Elyria Woman Who Says Police Raided Wrong House Sues Lorain County Sheriff
13
PACER Monitor. Price et al. v. City of Elyria et al.
14
Hoodline. Elyria Mom Cleared in Fraud Case After Flash-Bang Police Raid
15
City of Elyria. Mayor’s Statement Re: LCSO Concludes Administrative Review of Parmely Ave. Incident