Armed and ready for action, the US Marshals Fugitive Task Force descended upon Timothy Busfield’s residence in Highland Lake, New York, intent on apprehending the actor. However, the operation proved to be in vain as Busfield had already voluntarily surrendered to authorities in New Mexico.

Earlier in the week, the “West Wing” actor faced serious allegations, prompting Albuquerque police to issue an arrest warrant. Busfield was charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse, reportedly occurring on the set of his television show, “The Cleaning Lady.”

Despite the proactive move by Busfield to submit to the New Mexico police, the task force appeared to be acting on outdated information. The mix-up has left many questioning the chain of command and communication breakdowns that led to the unnecessary raid.

An insider familiar with the situation remarked, “This is a major blunder, and there will be consequences. It’s unclear how the directive for New York’s elite task force to execute the raid was issued despite Busfield’s prior surrender.”

The incident has drawn attention to the need for better coordination among law enforcement agencies to prevent such costly oversights in the future.

‘But looks like it was a total screw up.’ 

Busfield says he drove 2,000 in three days to hand himself in in Albuquerque, but the armed raid in New York went ahead an hour after he was processed by authorities in New Mexico.

The operation lasted around 20 minutes, and when asked by the Daily Mail whether they were aware Busfield had already handed himself in, one stern-faced officer declined to comment.

Heavily armed US Marshals were seen descending on the secluded Catskills home of Timothy Busfield and Melissa Gilbert, smashing through the front door with a battering ram during a dramatic raid on Tuesday 

The US Marshals raid on Timothy Busfield and wife Melissa Gilbert’s mountain home has been called into question after it took place when the actor had already handed himself in, 2,000 miles away in New Mexico

Since then, officials at the US Marshals Service have ignored repeated requests for comment and have yet to explain why the raid went ahead when Busfield was already in custody.

The move has sparked fresh scrutiny over how the operation was approved and whether agencies were working from outdated information.

When approached by the Daily Mail, officials at the Albany, New York, branch of the US Marshals  Regional Fugitive Task Force said they were unaware of the raid, adding that it may have been authorized as part of a federal probe.

It is unclear which branch of the US Marshals offices across New York headed up the operation, but it is believed the marshals most likely came from either Albany or Syracuse.

When the Daily Mail returned to Busfield and wife Melissa Gilbert’s mountain property in Highland Lake, a 20-minute drive from the Pennsylvania border, on Wednesday, two women were seen inside and around the house, including one who adjusted a security camera overlooking the driveway. 

They were accompanied by two dogs who could be seen barking and roaming the snowy grounds before both of the women departed shortly after 1.45pm. 

On Tuesday, at least ten officers, members of the New York Regional Fugitive Task Force, rammed open the door demanding any occupants come outside. 

When they received no response, the marshals, fitted with helmets and shields and armed with assault rifles and riot gear, burst into the home using a battering ram to knock open the white front door.

But as a swarm of officers stormed the $300,000 upstate New York retreat – pictured on Wednesday – Busfield had already been in custody after surrendering to police 

When Daily Mail returned to the property on Wednesday, two women were seen inside and around the house

One of the women appeared to be servicing or adjusting a security camera  overlooking the driveway

Several law enforcement officers spent around ten minutes examining the interior, before clearing the rear of the snowy property, which also has an RV and outhouse.

They did not appear to take any belongings when they left.

Seven vehicles pulled into the driveway of the secluded home 20 minutes from the Pennsylvania border, which the couple have called their retreat.

The 68-year-old Emmy award-winning actor was charged last week with sexually assaulting twin boys on the set of TV series The Cleaning Lady from 2022 until 2024.

Busfield has now also been accused in court papers of sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl while she was auditioning for a show.

The alleged victim’s father told police Busfield groped the aspiring actress ‘several years ago’ at the theater he and his brother Buck founded in Sacramento, California.

‘While auditioning for the defendant at B Street Theatre, the 16-year-old reported that (he) kissed her and put his hands down her pants and touched her privates,’ the motion states.

Busfield allegedly ‘begged the family to not report to law enforcement if he received therapy,’ and the alleged victim’s father, being a ‘therapist himself, thought at the time that was the best thing to do’.

The actor has denied all the accusations against him.

His lawyer, Larry Stein, told the Daily Mail on Wednesday: ‘Tim Busfield denies the allegations in the criminal complaint and maintains they are completely false. 

No one appeared to be home at the time of the raid, with officers eventually departing the quiet lakeside neighborhood

At least ten officers in helmets, shields, and tactical gear stormed the $300,000 upstate New York retreat an hour after Gilbert’s husband Timothy Busfield surrendered to police 2,000 miles away

Busfield turned himself in to law enforcement in New Mexico on Tuesday but insisted he was innocent of child sex accusations

‘As a voluntary step, he submitted to an independent polygraph examination regarding those allegations and passed,’ added Stein.

He is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center outside Albuquerque, before a brief hearing in front of a magistrate judge on Wednesda, when he was denied bail.

The Emmy award-winning actor addressed the charges and maintained his innocence in a video to TMZ when he turned himself in. 

‘I will confront these lies,’ Busfield told the outlet from the office of his attorney in Albuquerque. ‘I did not do anything to those little boys.’ 

‘I was ordered to come to Albuquerque, and well, I’m here now,’ Busfield said to the camera.

‘I got the call Friday night, I had to get a lawyer, and on Saturday I got a car and drove 2,000 miles to Albuquerque.’ 

Busfield described allegations that he inappropriately touched two young boys in 2022 on the set of the TV show ‘The Cleaning Lady’, which he was directing, as ‘horrible lies’, and vowed to fight the charges. 

‘They’re all lies, and I did not do anything,’ he said. ‘I’m gonna fight it with a great team, and I know I’m going to be exonerated. 

‘I know I am, because this is all so wrong and all lies.’

Gilbert also leapt to her husband’s defense Tuesday, saying she is ‘standing by him’ in a statement.