77-year-old Ruby Johnson’s house was raided by Denver SWAT, for a stolen vehicle and several guns. The SWAT team ordered anyone inside to come out of the house, and Johnson complied. Then, SWAT destroyed the inside of her house looking for contraband, and took her into custody. The team's warrant came from a ping produced by Apple’s “Find My iPhone” feature, that was initiated by the victim of the truck theft. SWAT narrowed down the location of the stolen phone to six homes in the neighborhood. The Denver PD used the screenshot of the “Find My iPhone” search to support its search warrant, and that was the only probable cause. The Police raided Johnson’s house from Officer Gary Staub’s warrant affidavit, which was initiated in 2021, a year before the investigation was instigated.
Ruby sued the police officers for constitutional violations, and the ACLU represented her in this case. A Colorado jury awarded $3.76 million in damages to Ruby Johnson, after concluding that Denver Police Department, Detective Gary Staab, and Sergeant Gregory Buschy violated the Colorado Constitution by hastily seeking, obtaining, and executing a search warrant of her home without probable cause or proper investigation. $1.26 million was also awarded in compensatory damages and $2.5 million in punitive damages.
Next time maybe find more evidence before raiding a grandma.