topsy-turvied / scattered

Use scattered. I've never heard topsy-turvy used as a verb.

"tore the place apart"

in the name...doesn't seem to fit: "The police broke into the house and tore the place apart in their search."

"Tore the place apart" sounds pretty good. I wanted to used "in the name of" as a way of denouncing the search.

Thanks Vorpar

Certainly.

The search sounds bad as it is if they left the house a complete mess. You can add details if it was an illegal search. "The police, (acting without a warrant/without probable cause)..."

Can I say "The police, acting without a warrant/without probable cause, broke into the house and tore the rooms apart in their search for firearms."?

After the search, they left the house a complete mess.

Thanks

AbilThe police broke into the house and topsy-turvied / scattered everything in the name of search.

Is "topsy-turvied or scattered" correct here? Is there any other word that can replace either of them?

I would use - turned the place upside down.

"Turn the place upside down". That also seems to fit in with what I intended to say.

Thanks Optilang.

topsy-turvy can be a verb (not that I've heard about it until now):

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Function: transitive verb
: to turn or make topsy-turvy <make in places the order of sedimentation a topsy-turvied sequence -- W.E.Swinton>

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Only 48 hits suggest that it is still limited in use.