Denver Faces $3.76 Million Tab After Erroneous Raid Triggered by Apple's Find My App

The city of Denver, Colorado, has been hit with a hefty $3.76 million bill after its police department relied on Apple's Find My app, leading to a disastrous raid on an innocent woman's home. In 2022, Denver police officers wrongly targeted the residence of an elderly woman while searching for a stolen truck and weapons.

According to a CNN report, the Denver Police Department was attempting to recover a stolen truck containing guns, ammunition, and a substantial amount of cash. In their search, they utilized Apple's Find My application on an iPhone to pinpoint the vehicle's location.

However, the police mistakenly identified the wrong house within a broad geographical area as the location of the stolen goods.

As a result of this botched raid, 78-year-old Ruby Johnson filed a lawsuit against the police department. The city will pay Johnson $3.76 million in damages as compensation for the ordeal.

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

The Role of Apple's Find My App

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) represented Johnson in the case. The lawsuit argued that the raid was executed based on a misinterpreted location ping from an iPhone's Find My app, a technology the officers lacked proper training to use.

According to the complaint, the police based their actions on a "Find My" ping from an iPhone 11, presumably still inside the stolen truck. However, the area indicated by the app encompassed portions of six different properties spread across four city blocks.

In a statement, Johnson's attorney, Tim Macdonald, expressed concern over the lack of adequate training and policy changes within the police department. He 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 two police officers who authorized the raid had no legitimate reason to single out Johnson's house.

The officers are also liable for 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.