The FBI and local police conducted an early Monday morning raid on a rented home in a well-off suburb of Dallas, where they hauled away several luxury vehicles and a motorcycle.
Authorities from the FBI, the ATF, and local police swooped in on a Plano house pre-dawn with air and ground units, alarming sleeping neighbors in the normally peaceful neighborhood.
NBC 5 DFW footage of the raid shows that it started with three loud blasts followed by authorities demanding that the home’s occupants “Put the dog in the bathroom and come down the stairs slowly with your hands up.”
“Literally, actually, it woke me up, and I jumped off the bed. I said, ‘What the heck? What’s going on?’” neighbor Dick Cai told the outlet. He also said it took about 30 minutes for the home’s occupants to abide by law enforcement’s demands and walk out with their hands raised.
Authorities busted down a door and demolished the wooden fence around the home’s yard. They detained one man and several women, according to neighbors, per NBC 5.
The footage of the raid and aftermath shows authorities removing a white Mercedes Benz G-Class SUV and a white Range Rover from the property on the back of flatbed trucks, seizing also a racing-style motorcycle.
Other neighbors who were at the scene said it was not the first time authorities had tried to enter the home, telling NBC 5 that a SWAT team came to the house two years ago but left when no one answered the door. The neighbors noted that the home was a rental.
Neighbors expressed concern for the safety of the neighborhood’s residents, especially since authorities have not yet said why they raided the home.
“It makes us nervous to let them walk around, for us to walk around, and we want answers of what’s going on,” said a neighbor in the footage aired by NBC 5, who did not provide their name.
The neighbors told the outlet that the residents of the raided house had kept to themselves but seemed very busy, especially at night, moving large bags in and out of the house.
“We’re a tight-knit community, and these renters that have been here about two and a half years, it’s time for them to leave,” the same unidentified neighbor added in the video.
The Dallas Express spoke with Officer Jennifer Chapman of the Plano Police Department’s Public Information Office, who confirmed that Plano PD was at the scene with the FBI and told The Dallas Express that the department expects to issue a joint release statement with the FBI to include more information later this week.
The Dallas Express also spoke with FBI Public Affairs Officer Katy Chaumont, who could not supply more detail but said more information about the raid would likely come from the Department of Justice handling the case in the U.S. Court for the Eastern District of Texas.