Apple's Find My App Error Leads to $3.76M Settlement in Denver Police Raid Case

Apple's Find My App Entangles Denver in $3.76 Million Lawsuit

Apple's Find My app has inadvertently cost the city of Denver, USA, a substantial $3.76 million in compensation and damages. The sum is the result of a mistaken police raid in 2022, where officers wrongly targeted and ransacked the home of an elderly woman while searching for a stolen truck and firearms.

According to a CNN report, the Denver Police Department was attempting to locate a stolen truck containing guns, ammunition, and cash. In their pursuit, they utilized Apple's Find My technology on an iPhone to pinpoint the vehicle's location.

However, the police mistakenly identified the wrong residence within a broad area, leading to the unwarranted raid.

As a consequence of this error, 78-year-old Ruby Johnson filed a lawsuit against the police department. As compensation for the damages caused, the city is obligated to pay Johnson a $3.76 million settlement.

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 had previously exonerated both men, the jury ultimately disagreed with this assessment.

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 an "alleged location ping from an iPhone's Find My app that the officers did not understand and for which they had no training."

The complaint stated that the police relied on a "Find My" ping from an iPhone 11, likely still inside the stolen truck. However, the identified area encompassed portions of six other properties spanning four city blocks.

Johnson's attorney, Tim Macdonald, expressed his concerns in a statement: "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 lacked sufficient justification to single out Johnson's residence as the target.

Moreover, the officers are liable to pay nearly $1.25 million each in punitive and compensatory damages. A Denver District Court clerk indicated that the city has not yet filed an appeal against the verdict.