The ACLU of Colorado sued a Denver police detective over a January SWAT raid of a 77-year-old woman’s home in Montbello, which the organization contends was baseless.

A tactical team searched Ruby Johnson’s home on Jan. 4 as part of an investigation of a truck stolen from the parking garage of the Hyatt in Denver.

The truck contained six guns, two drones, $4,000 in cash and an iPhone, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday. 

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The lawsuit alleged that Detective Gary Staab based his application for a search warrant solely on information from the truck’s owner that he had used Apple’s “Find My” iPhone software to trace the phone to Johnson’s address.

But the search did not find anything in Johnson’s home, the lawsuit said.

A copy of the search warrant, previously published by 9News in November, confirms the basis for Staab’s warrant application. The warrant was approved by the Denver District Attorney’s Office and signed by Judge Beth Faragher.

“Both Ms. Johnson and her home of 40 years carry wounds from that day that have not healed. Johnson no longer feels safe in her own home. She developed health issues due to the extreme stress and anxiety the unlawful search caused her,” the ACLU said in a news release.

The lawsuit contended that the “Find My” iPhone software finds approximate device locations and isn’t intended as a law enforcement tool, so the information from the app alone should not have justified searching Johnson’s home.

The ACLU said Colorado’s 2020 law enforcement accountability legislation, which eliminated qualified immunity for officers in state court, enabled this lawsuit.

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The ACLU’s legal director, Mark Silverstein, indicated the search warrant application went through a chain of command that he believes should not have given it approval.

“He should not have applied for the warrant. His supervisor should have vetoed it. The district attorney should have rejected it. The judge should not have issued the warrant. The SWAT team should have stayed home.”

The Denver Gazette has reached out for comment from the police department.

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