78-year-old grandmother wins $3.76M in lawsuit after Denver police raid the wrong house

A 78-year-old woman has been awarded millions from a lawsuit against police officers after a jury found that the woman's rights were violated when Denver police executed a search warrant on her home.

Law enforcement performed a SWAT-style raid on Ruby Johnson's home after using a cellphone-finding app in an attempt to locate evidence.

Jurors found that two officers were liable for the raid, the officer who initiated the affidavit for a search warrant and the sergeant who approved it. Johnson was awarded $1.25 million from each in punitive damages and $1.26 million combined for Johnson's pain and suffering, totaling $3.76 million.

The city will be ordered to pay the total damages, despite the officers being individually sued on behalf of Johnson by the Colorado ACLU.

The legal ordeal began when a thief stole a truck from a Denver hotel in early 2022. The victim claimed that his truck contained "four semi-automatic handguns, a tactical military-style rifle, a revolver, two drones, $4,000.00 in cash, and an old iPhone 11," CNN reported.

According to the lawsuit, the "sole basis" for connecting the crime to Johnson's residence was through the use of Apple's "Find My" app, which is used to locate an iPhone user's cellphone.

The lawsuit also claimed that after the theft victim informed police that he had found the location of his items using the app, one of the officers drafted an affidavit for a search warrant based on the app's results.

The affidavit allegedly had typos in the date, with the lawsuit also alleging it was approved hastily and without following proper protocol. The approving officer was said to have only signed the approval form without adding his name, badge number, and date.

The lawsuit also claimed that the search warrant affidavit showed a screenshot from the app in question, which featured a circle that simply noted a general area where the iPhone may be. The circle reportedly encompassed "at least six different properties" and parts of "four different blocks."

"Readily available user guidance that Apple posts on the internet about the ‘Find My’ app makes it clear that this screenshot eliminated any rational possibility that the pings justified a search of Ms. Johnson’s home," the complaint said.

Police officers omitted the material information and misled the judge, the plaintiffs also claimed.

Johnson is seen on video in a bathrobe and shower cap being apprehended by police, as she was allegedly forced to wait for hours as a team searched her home.

Police also allegedly ignored the woman's instructions on how to open her garage and instead used a battering ram to smash open the door leading into it.

City officials and Denver police did not respond to CNN or NBC News' request for comments, but the Denver Police Department did release a statement in regards to the matter.

"We hope to continue to work with Ms. Johnson's family through her attorneys to resolve this matter without further litigation," the statement read.

The department also said that Police Chief Ron Thomas has ordered an internal investigation into the incident.

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