An elderly Colorado woman is suing a Denver police detective who ordered a SWAT raid on her house after it was falsely pinged by Apple’s “Find my” app as the location of several stolen items — including six firearms and an old iPhone — according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.
The suit, filed in Denver District Court by lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, alleges that Denver Police Department Detective Gary Staab illegally issued a warrant for the raid of the home of 77-year-old Ruby Johnson on Jan. 4, based on what the complaint characterizes as a “hastily prepared, bare-bones, misleading affidavit.”
The complaint specifies Johnson is suing Staab “in his individual capacity.” Johnson is seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages, according to the filing.
Staab could not immediately be reached.
The complaint contends that Staab’s affidavit violated Johnson’s right, afforded by the state constitution, to “be free of unreasonable searches and seizures.” The affidavit allegedly “lacked probable cause that evidence of crime could be found” at Johnson’s home, since it was based on an unverified and vague ping by Apple’s “Find My” app, which is used to track Apple devices.
Staab issued the search warrant the day after a white truck with a Texas license plate was allegedly stolen from the parking garage of a Denver Hyatt hotel, according to the truck’s owner, who was staying at the hotel. The owner told police that the truck contained six firearms — including a tactical military-style rifle — two drones, $4,000 cash and an old iPhone 11.
The next morning, according to the complaint, Staab interviewed the owner of the truck by phone, who said he had used the “Find My” app to search for his stolen belongings and that it had twice pinged Johnson’s address the day before. Staab then used that claim as the basis for the raid, according to a copy of the affidavit obtained by NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver.
AFRO WORLD NEWS
