Denver Hit with $3.76M Bill After Faulty Apple Find My App Data Leads to Wrongful Police Raid

Denver Pays Millions After Erroneous Raid Based on Apple's Find My App

Denver, Colorado, is facing a hefty $3.76 million bill following a mistaken police raid on an elderly woman's home, triggered by inaccurate location data from Apple's Find My app. The 2022 incident involved Denver police seeking a stolen truck containing guns, ammunition, and cash.

Law enforcement utilized Apple's Find My technology on a separate iPhone to pinpoint the vehicle's whereabouts. However, instead of locating the actual thieves, they stormed the residence of 78-year-old Ruby Johnson, causing significant damage and distress.

As a result of the misplaced raid, Johnson filed a lawsuit against the police department. The city will now pay her $3.76 million in compensation. The officers involved, Detective Gary Staab and Sgt. Gregory Buschy, were also named as defendants in their individual capacities. Although the Denver police had initially cleared both men of any wrongdoing, the jury ultimately disagreed.

ACLU Highlights Training Deficiencies

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 effectively.

According to the complaint, the police relied on a "Find My" ping from an iPhone 11, presumably still inside the stolen truck. The identified area encompassed portions of six other properties spread across four city blocks, demonstrating the app's limited precision in an urban environment.

Legal Response

Tim Macdonald, Johnson's attorney, issued a statement emphasizing the severity of the situation: "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 officers lacked sufficient justification to target Johnson's home specifically. Furthermore, each officer is liable for nearly $1.25 million in punitive and compensatory damages. According to a Denver District Court clerk, the city has not yet filed an appeal against the verdict.