Denver City Wire

Ruby Johnson recently told the Denver Post that she still feels frightened after Denver Police searched her home in a S.W.A.T. knock-and-announce warrant situation.

“I still feel the same as when they did this,” she said. “It’s just frightening.”

Johnson has filed a lawsuit against Gary Staab, a Denver Police detective who, according to the lawsuit, conducted an "illegal search" of Johnson's Montbello home, based on a "hastily prepared, bare-bones, misleading affidavit." It goes on to state that "the sole basis he identified for connecting the crime to Ms. Johnson’s address was the truck theft victim’s use of Apple’s “Find My” app to try to track an old iPhone that was in the stolen truck. But contrary to Staab’s representations to the reviewing judge, use of the app in fact made clear that the iPhone’s location could not be accurately identified, and there was zero basis to single out Ms. Johnson’s home."

The incident occurred on Jan 4, 2022, according to KDVR.

The investigation started with a stolen truck. On Jan. 3, the owner told police the truck has two drones, six firearms, $4,000 cash and an old iPhone 11 inside, according to the ACLU’s lawsuit. The key issue of the suit focuses on Staab relying on the “Find My” app to track the iPhone that was in the truck, seeing it pinged twice at Johnson’s address that day, according to KDVR.

“For what we think is the egregiousness of the rights violation, to inspire Denver to take a very serious hard look at how its detectives are seeking warrants,” said Mark Silverstein, ACLU of Colorado legal director, told KDVR when asked what they hope to accomplish with the lawsuit.

According to KDVR, the owner of the stolen truck used Apple's "Find My Phone" capability to ping an old phone he left in the vehicle.

 "Jeremy McDaniel said he was in his hotel room when his truck was stolen,” KDVR reported. “He said he kept the guns in locked cases in the truck because he thought they would be safe in the hotel’s parking garage. Once the hotel notified him of the truck theft hours later, he began tracking an old iPhone 11 that was left in the truck. Find My iPhone pings gave police a lead to a home in Montbello before the device died. If the phone was there, police reasoned that maybe the rest of the stolen goods would be, too. No other surveillance of the property was done, according to the warrant. DPD, eager to recover the handguns and rifle, drew up a warrant and activated the S.W.A.T. team."