Ruby Johnson, 78, had just gotten out of the shower when a SWAT team showed up at her house with their guns drawn. Her home was searched before authorities realized they were at the wrong address.
A SWAT team with guns drawn showed up at one grandmother’s home before realizing they were at the wrong address. A jury awarded the woman $3.76 million.
The heavily armed SWAT team surrounded a home in Colorado while looking for a stolen truck, several guns, and a stolen iPhone. The Find My Phone app had reportedly pinged near an intersection by Johnson's house and a search warrant to search her home had been approved by the Denver District Attorney's office and signed by a judge.
But when police entered the Denver home, they found 78-year-old Ruby Johnson, having just taken a shower and still wearing a bathrobe and hair bonnet.
Authorities asked Johnson if she had any weapons on her and if anyone else was in her home, where she said she did not have weapons and no one else was home.
“I see stuff like this on the movies, and I didn’t think it would ever happen to me,” Johnson told authorities.
The SWAT team moved in and began searching her home. Her shower was still running.
Authorities ripped the lock off of a storage unit to find a Christmas tree. They then used a battering ram to burst into the garage, where they did not find anything.
While the elderly homeowner sat in the back of the patrol car, her house was searched from top to bottom until they realized they were at the wrong house.
Johnson’s son, Greg Brunson, says his mother is too rattled to talk.
“She was very upset with the whole situation. Very emotional. She was crying. I had to try and calm her down” Brunson says.
He says Johnson tried to stay calm.
“She wanted to be nice to the officers. She did not want to get hurt,” Brunson says.
In 2022, Johnson filed a lawsuit claiming that the police raid was unconstitutional. She argued that the detective who obtained the search warrant did not point out that the app's information is not precise and provides only a general location of where the phone might be.
Now, the city of Denver has been ordered to pay her $3.76 million.
“It definitely put a smile on her and we’re hoping the healing process can begin,” Brunson says.
The Denver Police Department declined to comment.
