Another Find My misfire led to a raid on a suburban family's home

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion edited March 26

A pair of AirPods thrown out of a carjacked vehicle led the Saint Louis County SWAT team to bust down the front door of a Ferguson family's home with a battering ram.

Apple's Find My
Apple's Find My



In May 2023, a raid by the St. Louis County SWAT team shattered the door of an innocent Ferguson family. The chaotic incident at Brittany Shamily's home stemmed from a flawed search warrant based on inaccurate tracking of stolen AirPods.

The SWAT team, expecting firearms related to a carjacking that took place 12 hours prior and 16 miles away, found nothing. A friend of the carjacking victims said that his AirPods were in the stolen car, and that police could track them using Find My.

Once on scene, the SWAT team ransacked the house. According to The Riverfront Times one SWAT team member punched a basketball-sized hole in the drywall, while another broke through a drop ceiling.

The AirPods were later found outside, an hour and a half into the raid. It is likely that the carjackers had discovered and pitched the AirPods when making their escape.

The family, represented by attorneys Bevis Schock and Erich Vieth, is suing for damages and questionable police tactics. Schock highlights concerns about excessive SWAT deployments, emphasizing the need to balance officer safety with citizens' rights.

The lawsuit aims to uncover how police decide to use SWAT teams, challenging their tactics in non-threatening situations like this one.

This isn't the first time Find My has led to a SWAT raid on an innocent party. In January 2022, Denver SWAT teams raided an elderly woman's home after Find My falsely pinged her home as the location of a stolen iPhone. The woman won $3.76 million in compensation and damages.



Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    ihatescreennamesihatescreennames Posts: 1,905member
    This seems less like a failure on the part of Find My, since the AirPods were found in the yard of the house where Find My said they were, and more a failure on the part of police procedure. 
    foregoneconclusionluke hamblykillroyhecalderwilliamlondondewmewatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 9
    foregoneconclusionforegoneconclusion Posts: 2,689member
    ihatescreennames said:
    This seems less like a failure on the part of Find My, since the AirPods were found in the yard of the house where Find My said they were, and more a failure on the part of police procedure. 
    Ferguson, Missouri. The police in that town don't exactly have the best reputation for controlled reactions. 
    Oferkillroyhecalderwilliamlondondewmewatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 9
    antiprotestantiprotest Posts: 7member
    "The chaotic incident at Brittany Shamily's home stemmed from a flawed search warrant based on inaccurate tracking of stolen AirPods."

    More like flawed interpretation of very accurate tracking of AirPods. 

    The article title could be taken as saying the device was at fault but it was the police's use of the information at fault. 

    Wish they would learn from multiple similar incidents? 
    killroyhecalderwilliamlondondewmewatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 9
    eriamjheriamjh Posts: 1,647member
    I've seen posts where the police tell the airtag and airpod tracker owners that Find My was not enough evidence or proof of anything and now they're busting down doors without due process.

    That's our police forces in the USA, folks.   Incompetent, careless, and unaccountable.
    killroyRonnyDaddyhecalderdewmewatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 9
    KierkegaardenKierkegaarden Posts: 179member
    A law enforcement misfire — NOT a Find My misfire.  Do you even understand the words you supposedly wrote in the article?  It sounds like Find My operated as it was supposed to, but law enforcement didn’t.

    The core of this — a SWAT team dispatched for AirPods?  Good grief.  Is that the threshold for lethal force?  But I shouldn’t pass judgement just yet — maybe they had reason to believe the perps were holding the AirPods at gunpoint.  Frightening thought.
    edited March 25 killroyhecalderwilliamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 9
    longfanglongfang Posts: 459member
    This seems less like a failure on the part of Find My, since the AirPods were found in the yard of the house where Find My said they were, and more a failure on the part of police procedure. 
    Ferguson, Missouri. The police in that town don't exactly have the best reputation for controlled reactions. 
    They had a warrant so throw in clueless about tech judge.

    The lawsuit also said they ransacked drawers and punched a hole in the drywall. Did they think the car jackers hid a Dodge Charger there?
    edited March 25 killroyeriamjhhecalderdewmewatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 9
    davidwdavidw Posts: 2,053member
    longfang said:
    This seems less like a failure on the part of Find My, since the AirPods were found in the yard of the house where Find My said they were, and more a failure on the part of police procedure. 
    Ferguson, Missouri. The police in that town don't exactly have the best reputation for controlled reactions. 
    They had a warrant so throw in clueless about tech judge.

    The lawsuit also said they ransacked drawers and punched a hole in the drywall. Did they think the car jackers hid a Dodge Charger there?

    No, just because a Judge signed a search warrant, doesn't mean that he/she automatically approved of the officers serving the warrant by bust down the door. If there was no obvious sign of danger, the officers could have or should have just rang the door bell and serve the warrant. The AirPods gave a very accurate location of where it was and it was there. It wasn't across the street or several homes down the block.

    But the officers serving the search warrant should have known that the car-jacked car was not there. And unless they knew for sure that the car-jackers were inside the home, they didn't need to bust down the door for the element of surprise. AirPods are not armed and dangerous. Remember, these officers were not primarily looking for the AirPods and the search warrant wasn't issued by the Judge to recover the AirPods. (At least I hope not.)  They were hoping to catch the car-jackers who were a danger to the public.

    Never the less, the Judge and officers were in the right to sign and serve the search warrant at that residence. They were trying to solve a violent crime. What was not in the right was to bust down the door (in order to serve the warrant) without any evidence that the car-jackers were still in possession of the Air Pods and inside. Or worst yet, knowing that the car-jackers were not inside. All they knew was that the AirPods were inside or very near by.  A knock on the door would have suffice.



    hecalderwilliamlondondewmewatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 9
    hecalderhecalder Posts: 11member
    As always law enforcement trying to blame there faults on my find.  lol they are a joke. Same as the warnings of anyone can steal your information just by being close to your iPhone. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 9
    beowulfschmidtbeowulfschmidt Posts: 2,141member
    But lets remember the truly important thing here.  All those officers went back safe to their families and fully intact homes, with no repercussions for their actions. /s
    watto_cobra
Sign In or Register to comment.