Last week we briefly noted that another iPhone prototype went missing this year in a bar in San Francisco, and that San Francisco police and Apple investigators tried to track the device down, and even interviewed and then searched one man’s property for the device. That’s where the story ended.
Now a series of reports regarding the event have surfaced, all of which have created an ever-more-confusing story surrounding the event. SFWeekly issued a new report claiming that San Francisco police had no record of the case, thus throwing CNET’s original report on the matter, into serious doubt.
Then a second report from SFWeekly appeared, and claimed that the man, Sergio Calderón, whose property was searched for the device may have been taken advantage by Apple investigators posing as police, which is a criminal offense. They also left open the possibility that SFPD did not properly complete the paperwork for the search, and that is why there was no record of it. In all, Calderón noted that his home, car, and computer was searched for any evidence of the device, and at no point did they mention it was a prototype of the next-generation iPhone.
They found nothing, and offered Calderón $300 to return the phone, and left a phone number for him to use if he found anything in regards to the missing device. The phone number was later found to belong to Anthony Colon, who used to be a San Jose Police sergeant, but now works for Apple as a “senior investigator”.
After that report left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, a final report from SFWeekly claims that San Francisco Police did indeed help with Apple’s investigation. Just in an unorthodox way.
Specifically, the report notes that four plainclothes SFPD officers accompanied two Apple investigators to Sergio Calderón’s home, with only the two Apple employees entering the premises. This just raises questions as to why the police report wasn’t filed in accordance with standard procedure.
At any rate, SFPD Lt. Troy Dangerfield noted that “Apple came to us saying that they were looking for a lost item, and some plainclothes officers responded out to the house with them. My understanding is that they stood outside. They just assisted Apple to the address.” So there’s that for the record.
So, to keep everything straight here’s a timeline: A new iPhone prototype was lost in a San Francisco bar in late July. Apple investigators, accompanied by plainclothes cops, searched a man’s property who they believed to be in connection with the case. They found nothing, and the SFPD is on the line for sloppy paperwork. And still, no one knows who took the device, or where the device is located.
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TAGS: iPhone Prototype
