“The Fifth Amendment's guarantee that private property shall not be taken for a public use without just compensation was designed to bar Government from forcing some people alone to bear public burdens which, in all fairness and justice, should be borne by the public as a whole.”

-        U.S. Supreme Court, Armstrong v. United States

On June 3, 2015, the lives of the Lech family were forever changed when the City of Greenwood Village police destroyed their home in their efforts to apprehend a suspect who had shot at police. What started out as an investigation of a shoplifting suspect turned into a police chase and 19-hour standoff between police and the suspect, who broke in and hid in the Lech home to avoid capture. Over one hundred officers from four different police agencies in the Denver-metro area showed up for the party, bringing Bearcat armored vehicles and explosives. The police used over 135 chemical munitions, flash-bang grenades, explosives, and a Bearcat to blast and tear open holes in the home in an effort to induce the suspect’s surrender and find where he was hiding. The commanding officer even ordered police to “take down as much of the building as needed, without making the roof fall in.” The incident only concluded when a SWAT team was sent in to locate and extract the hiding suspect.

The incident resulted in the complete destruction of the home and almost all of the personal property inside. The home was so extensively damaged that it was declared uninhabitable by the City and had to be demolished. Overnight, the residents of the home had nowhere to live, had to find new housing, and lost almost everything they owned.

The police claim the destruction of the home was necessary for them to apprehend a dangerous suspect and protect the public, but the City denies that they have any responsibility for the damage caused to the Lechs, offering them only $5,000. The Lechs filed a lawsuit and have been involved in a more than 2-year legal battle with the City of Greenwood Village to recover any meaningful compensation from the City for the immense damage caused to their property and their lives. The Lechs filed their lawsuit not just recover compensation, but because they believe that it is wrong for the government to be able to cause such extreme harm to innocent citizens and leave the individual to bear the cost.

The 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Colorado Constitution guarantee that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation. The police should not be permitted to destroy innocent people’s property just because they claim it furthers the apprehension of a suspect and leave innocent people to bear the burden of their destruction. As it stands now, the police have been given carte blanche to cause unlimited destruction to private property and harm to innocent citizens as long as they can claim that it was in furtherance of “enforcing the law.” Accordingly, this case could be a defining moment in constitutional law, property rights, and limiting the ever-increasing powers of the police and government.

This is not an isolated incident. Harm to innocent citizens will continue unless the Lechs fight this case. Last year in Englewood, Colorado , an innocent couple were again forced to bear the cost of police actions to apprehend as a suspect when police chased an auto theft suspect into their home. The police launched chemical munitions into the home in an effort to induce the suspect’s surrender before finally sending in a SWAT team to apprehend the suspect. The incident resulted in the home being extensively damaged. The government denied any responsibility to pay for the damage.  Similar incidents have occurred near Ithaca, New York, Phoenix, Arizona, Nampa, Idaho, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The City of Greenwood Village has deep pockets of taxpayer money to pay for attorneys’ fees and litigation costs to fight the Lechs’ suit. The Lechs too have to pay for litigation costs of their case, but their pockets are not so deep.

You can help the Lechs in their mission to show the government that it is not ok to destroy citizens’ homes and then leave them out in the cold. Your support is key to the continuation of this fight for 5th Amendment property rights. All donations will go towards the costs of litigation, such as the costs of depositions, experts, and court awarded attorneys’ fees and costs that the Lechs have to pay out of their own pocket. The Lechs’ attorney will not receive any amount of your contribution. The Lechs' attorney has not receieved any compensation for her work on this case. 

Would you consider donating to help the Lechs’ mission?

We thank you in advance for your support. 


***Any excess proceeds from fundraising efforts will be donated to the Institute for Justice, a non-profit organization that litigates for constitutional and individual rights.***