A funeral for a loved one in North Carolina descended into chaos after police arrived in search of a murder suspect in a 30-year-old murder.
The cops allegedly used "excessive force" to interrupt the event and accidentally arrest the wrong man, who was mourning his brother Kabem Smith's death.
The Lee County Sheriff's Office broke in because they thought he was a wanted man connected to Rodney Cotton's 1995 murder.
The Lee County Sheriff's Office later explained on social media what led to the mix-up.
The Sheriff's Office said the investigators received "information from multiple separate sources" that a suspect wanted for a 1995 homicide would be present at the funeral of Kabem Seagal Smith, who died earlier this month.
"There was a lot of confusion, hostility, and deception," they said in a May 16 Facebook post.
Investigators were looking for Willard Smith, who they claimed had successfully evaded law enforcement for 30 years by using "several aliases, including family member's names."
According to law authorities, "multiple separate sources" said Willard Eugene Smith would attend Kabem's funeral at Liberty Chapel Church under the name Willard Partridge.
According to his obituary, Kabem Smith is survived by his five brothers: Willard Partridge Jr, Jravier Smith, Ridge Smith, Arsenio Smith, and Jordney Smith.
The sheriff's office added that "tips also indicated that he has returned to the location on previous occasions to visit family." So, the sheriff's office waited in the parking lot at the funeral to apprehend the suspect, PEOPLE reported.
At the end of the service, as mourners departed, deputies misidentified a man as Smith and arrested him. Family members reportedly began to swarm the sheriff's office cars.
Eventually, the deputies acknowledged their mistake and released him. The original suspect, Smith, is still at large.
In its online statement, the Lee County Sheriff's Office, which has not yet been able to identify the real suspect, pledged that its investigators were still confident of solving the 1995 Murder of Rodney Cotton.
