Apple's Find My
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A pair of AirPods thrown from a stolen car led the Ste Parish SWAT Team -Louis broke down the front door of the Ferguson family home using a battering ram.
In May 2023, a St. Louis County SWAT raid broke down the door of the innocent Ferguson family. The chaotic incident at Brittany Shamili's home stemmed from a flawed search warrant based on inaccurate tracking of stolen AirPods.
A SWAT team expecting firearms related to a carjacking that occurred 12 hours earlier and 16 miles away found none. A friend of the carjacking victims said his AirPods were in the stolen car and that police were able to track them using Find My.
Once on the scene, a SWAT team searched the house. According to The Riverfront Times, one SWAT member punched a basketball-sized hole in the drywall and another crashed through a drop ceiling.
An hour and a half after the raid, the AirPods were found outside. It is likely that the hijackers found and planted the AirPods during their escape.
The family, represented by attorneys Bevis Schock and Erich Wieth, is suing for damages and questionable police tactics. Shock underscores concerns about the overuse of SWAT, emphasizing the need to balance officer safety with citizens' rights.
The lawsuit seeks to examine how police decide to use SWAT teams, challenging their tactics in non-threatening situations like this.
This is not the first time Find My has led to a SWAT raid on an innocent person. In January 2022, Denver SWAT teams raided the home of an elderly woman after Find My incorrectly identified her home as the location of a stolen iPhone. The woman won $3.76 million in compensation and damages.
