Denver to Pay Millions After Erroneous Raid Triggered by Apple's Find My App

Apple's Find My App Leads to Multi-Million Dollar Settlement for Denver

The city of Denver has been ordered to pay $3.76 million in compensation and damages after a botched police raid on an elderly woman's home, triggered by information from Apple's Find My app.

In 2022, Denver police, attempting to locate a stolen truck containing guns, ammunition, and cash, used Apple's Find My technology on an iPhone to pinpoint the vehicle's location.

However, the officers mistakenly targeted the home of 78-year-old Ruby Johnson, leading to a devastating and unwarranted search.

As a result of this error, Ruby Johnson filed a lawsuit against the Denver Police Department. The city will now pay her $3.76 million as compensation for the damages caused by the wrongful raid.

Furthermore, the officers involved—Detective Gary Staab and Sgt. Gregory Buschy—were also named as individual defendants in the lawsuit. While the Denver Police Department had initially cleared both men of any wrongdoing, the jury ultimately disagreed with this assessment.

ACLU Highlights Lack of Training on Apple's Find My App

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) represented Johnson in the case, arguing that the raid was based on an "alleged location ping from an iPhone's Find My app that the officers did not understand and for which they had no training."

According to the complaint, the police relied on a "Find My" ping from an iPhone 11, presumably still inside the stolen truck. However, the area identified by the app encompassed parts of six different properties across four city blocks.

Tim Macdonald, Johnson's attorney, stated, "We are disturbed by the lack of training or policy changes and hope that the amount of the punitive damages award will send a strong message that the police department must take seriously the constitutional rights of its residents."

The ACLU and the jury concluded that the officers who ordered the raid lacked sufficient justification for singling out Johnson's home.

The officers are also liable to pay nearly $1.25 million each in punitive and compensatory damages. According to a Denver District Court clerk, the city has not yet filed an appeal against the verdict.