Michigan Supreme Court asked to consider whether state must pay for property damaged by police
Case has been filed by Saginaw County attorney Philip Ellison
BAY CITY, Mich. — A Bay City property owner is asking the Michigan Supreme Court to decide whether the government must compensate innocent property owners when police deliberately damage their property while carrying out a law enforcement operation.
Outside Legal Counsel PLC filed an application for leave to appeal Aug. 11 on behalf of Anthony Banaszak, whose six-unit residential property on Garfield Avenue was damaged during an October 2022 police standoff.
The case, Banaszak v. State of Michigan, centers on whether the damage constitutes a compensable taking under the Michigan Constitution.
Police were attempting to arrest Banaszak’s tenant, Harold Nielsen, who had an outstanding felony warrant and barricaded himself inside the building, according to the law firm’s filing. Local officers eventually called in the Michigan State Police Emergency Support Team.
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According to records cited by Banaszak’s attorneys, officers broke windows and fired chemical munitions and other projectiles into the building during the hours-long operation. Photographs submitted in the case show shattered windows, projectile holes and other damage to the property.
Banaszak was not accused of a crime and was not the target of the police operation.
The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled against Banaszak, concluding that the property destruction did not amount to a compensable taking because the objective of the police operation was apprehending Nielsen rather than taking or damaging Banaszak’s property.
Banaszak’s attorneys argue that the lower court’s reasoning improperly limits protections contained in Article X, Section 2 of the Michigan Constitution.
“The police wanted the suspect — but they destroyed the house to get him,” attorney Philip L. Ellison said in a statement announcing the appeal.
The case could have implications beyond Banaszak’s property. Federal courts have generally been reluctant to require governments to compensate property owners for damage resulting from police operations. Banaszak’s attorneys are asking Michigan’s highest court to interpret the state’s constitutional property protections independently from federal precedent.
The filing points to decisions from courts in Texas and Minnesota that have allowed property owners to pursue compensation claims involving damage caused during police efforts to apprehend suspects.
Ellison said the lawsuit does not depend on proving that police acted improperly. Instead, the argument is that even justified police actions can create an obligation for the government to compensate an innocent property owner whose property was intentionally damaged for a public purpose.
“Public safety is a public obligation,” Ellison said. “Its cost cannot constitutionally be assigned to the unlucky person whose house happened to stand between the State and its felony suspect.”
The Michigan Supreme Court has not yet agreed to hear the case. Banaszak’s attorneys are asking the court to grant the application, reverse the lower court rulings and find that the intentional destruction of the property constitutes a compensable taking under the Michigan Constitution.
The case is Anthony Banaszak v. State of Michigan, Michigan Court of Appeals case No. 375636 and Court of Claims case No. 23-000097-MM.