Boston official apologizes after cleric dies following SWAT drug raid at wrong address

Jet, April 11, 1994

Boston Police Commissioner Paul Evans recently issued an apology for the death of a retired minister who collapsed and died of a heart attack after police broke into his apartment by mistake during a drug raid.

Rev. Accelyne Williams, 75, died 45 minutes after a SWAT team stormed his apartment and handcuffed him in a botched drug bust. The police, who apparently misread a floor plan given to them by an informant, broke into William's third-floor apartment with a "no knock" warrant, permitting them to break into a residence if they suspect occupants are armed.

"I am apologizing not only to the Williams family, but to the residents of the community and the entire city for this tragedy."

He pledged " ... every step will be taken to see that this does not happen again."

A well respected cleric and scholar throughout the Caribbean, the Reverend Williams retired to Boston six years ago to be closer to his only daughter, Cassandra of Chicago, after 40 years as a Methodist minister.

He and his wife Mary, a secretary in a local bank, lived in a neighborhood ravaged by drugs and crime. He spent most of his time in what he felt was the safety of his apartment reading scriptures and occasionally filling in as a guest minister at nearby churches.

He was home alone and his wife at her job when the SWAT team arrived at 3:15 p.m. and by 4 p.m. he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

An unidentified law enforcement official was quoted in The Boston Globe as saying that police chased Williams through the apartment and crashed through a bedroom door to reach him. The official said as the elderly man was being handcuffed the clergyman was so distraught that he began vomiting and collapsed, according to the newspaper.

Williams death has moved community leaders to question police procedures, including the use of drug informants in drug raids.

And while commissioner Evans offered his apology and condolences to Williams' widow in person, lawyer John Drewry said the family is "looking for much more than an apology" from the city but would not say if a lawsuit would be forthcoming.