Colorado Woman Files Lawsuit After Cop Falsely Uses "Find My" App to Ping Her Location

An old woman from Colorado had a brief encounter with the SWAT after the team raided her house without stating any reason. Later, she found out that a Denver cop "falsely" tracked her location via Find My App.

According to the police detective, the grandmother's house was pinged as a spot of an outdated iPhone and stolen weapons.

Elderly Woman Sues Denver Cop

According to a report by Ars Technica, Ruby Johnson, a 77-year-old grandmother said that earlier this year, some cops placed her inside a SWAT vehicle for hours after finding out that her home was the exact location of a stolen truck with many stolen items inside.

Based on her statement, the cops said that the Find My App detected that her garage contains these items. However, she knew that it was not the case and it was only just an illegal search of her home.

Now, she has filed a lawsuit against Detective Gary Staab for issuing an illegal warrant on her home back on Jan. 4. The lawsuit says that the action was a "hastily prepared, bare-bones, misleading affidavit."

The investigation says that Johnson is going after Staab who causes her unspecified damages, therefore she's seeking a jury trial.

Additionally, the lawsuit also mentions that Johnson's right was violated when Staab entered her house without any permission whatsoever.

The affidavit is also believed to be lacking probable evidence for the crime. Since it's only a false alarm that came from the iPhone's Find My app, the action is "vague" and "unverified."

The Basis of the Raid

In another report by NBC News, Staab reportedly got the basis of the raid from the owner of the truck.

A day after the white truck was allegedly stolen from a garage, the owner said that the vehicle has an old iPhone 11, $4,000 cash, a tactical military-style rifle, and a pair of drones.

When Staab learned that the owner used the Find My app to track his personal things. The owner told him that the tracker pointed to Johnson's place twice.

The complaint says that the case has two main issues to deal with. The first one is Staab's failure to validate the location of the subject before raiding the house.

Another important thing to take note of is the reliance on the Find My app. The complaint mentions that this tracking tool is "not intended as a law enforcement tool."

What's worse about the issue is how the police officers neglect Johnson's belongings during the raid. The filing notes that the cops allegedly" used a battery ram to break in the garage. In this regard, Johnson properly instructed them to open it in the most appropriate way possible.

Other than that, the cops also "broke" the parts of a doll figurine. The toys were kept for nearly 30 years and Johnson said that they were gifts given by her youngest son.