Crime

iPhone 5 Saga: Man Thought SFPD Entered His Home, But it Was Apple Detectives

The San Francisco Police Department is contradicting itself. Initially, SFPD said there was no record of them helping Apple search a man’s home for the iPhone 5 prototype lost in July. Now, the department is saying it did…but only Apple employees entered the house in which Apple detectives thought they had traced the prototype.

Sergio Calderón, the owner of the home, said to San Francisco Weekly that six badge-wearing visitors came to his home in July and asked about the phone. Calderón let two people into his home who did not say they were with SFPD or not. San Francisco Weekly has more:

Calderón said none of them acknowledged being employed by Apple, and one of them offered him $300, and a promise that the owner of the phone would not press charges, if he would return the device.

The visitors also allegedly threatened him and his family, asking questions about their immigration status. “One of the officers is like, ‘Is everyone in this house an American citizen?’ They said we were all going to get into trouble,” Calderón said.

One of the officers left a phone number with him, which SF Weekly traced to Anthony Colon, an investigator employed at Apple, who declined to comment when we reached him.

. . .

Calderón said he was under the impression that they were all police, since they were part of the group outside that identified themselves as SFPD officials. The two who entered the house did not disclose that they were private security officers, according to Calderón.

“When they came to my house, they said they were SFPD,” Calderón said. “I thought they were SFPD. That’s why I let them in.” He said he would not have permitted the search if he had been aware the two people conducting it were not actually police officers.

Gizmodo called several people at the SFPD on September 1 for information about SFPD’s involvement in the search — this was before SFPD’s recent admission to participating — and here’s what they were told:

An initial call to the SFPD yesterday ended with them asking for an email detailing all our questions about the investigation. Apparently, no one in the media department had any knowledge of the missing iPhone or the investigation around it. As of this writing, they have not replied to the email.

After another call to the SFPD’s media relations department today, I spoke with Officer Albie Esparza, who had talked to Apple earlier this morning about the incident. He requested a report number so that he could inform the media what was happening in the investigation. But according to Officer Esparza, there is “no record” of this lost iPhone. Nothing.

San Francisco Weekly writes it is “unclear” if this will count as impersonating a police officer. When they questioned SFPD spokesman Lt. Troy Dangerfield if the Apple detectives may have misrepresented themselves, he said: “I don’t have any indication of that. I’m not going to go there.”

CNET’s Blog brings up an interesting observation. Could SFPD having no record of their involvement in the search one day and admitting it the other be liked to some skittishness after they sent a word file to reporters that was named iPhone5.doc, according to Reuters? Apple did not identify what the lost device actually was and has not even announced the creating iPhone 5 yet, though it is rumored that it’s release will come in October.

[H/T Gizmodo]

Comments (83)

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  • 1956
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 10:30am

    It appears that Apple’s detectives are idiots and uber nazis, as well as the SFPD. I’m not surprised that the SFPD was involved. San Francisco is so screwed up.

    Report Post » 1956  
  • ddg7
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 10:23am

    Since Apple and Google are already coming into our homes in the virtual sense, it’s only the logical progression that they now have the clout to come into our homes in the physical sense. Who’s going to stop them?

    Report Post »  
  • affinnity
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 10:19am

    Why does Apple have its own detectives? Here’s what I think. If anybody ever messes with you in your home and you suspect they do or don’t have police powers: 1) Have everyone immediately go into separate rooms. 2) Follow them from one room to the next with your eyes (don’t enter the same rooms). 3) If they touch or punch anyone, for any reason, file charges and contact an attorney. 4) Video taping is a huge plus. 5) If they imply that they have the power to detain or arrest you do exactly what they say and follow their commands but be certain to file charges and contact an attorney. Always file both criminal and civil charges.

    There are rules for dealing with real cops.

    I am not an attorney or a police officer so please ask for the advice of an attorney before doing anything I have suggested.

    Report Post » affinnity  
    • Av8r1969
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 10:31am

      verify the warrant…… call your lawyer immediately.

      Report Post »  
    • DREDGE
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 10:46am

      How about before letting anyone in ask for a “Warrant”!!!!!!!

      Report Post »  
    • jb.kibs
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 12:41pm

      anyone can print a warrant…

      Report Post »  
    • LostInTheSpin
      Posted on September 5, 2011 at 12:47am

      they didn’t say check to see if they printed a warrant. they said to verify. big difference.

      Report Post » LostInTheSpin  
  • teddrunk
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 10:17am

    Apple is a Communist plot. It’s evil, and always has been evil.

    Report Post »  
  • GABOB
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 9:56am

    Using the real police as cover? I smell a lawsuit.

    Report Post »  
  • randy
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 9:51am

    @TXSON Haha…. Actually my friend form Austin, TX would click on the link.

    First…She’s from Austin.
    Second… She’s a Kool Aid drinking Obama supporter.
    Third… She actually believes in the Church of Global Warming.
    Fourth… She called me one day to ask me about a site that promised a cheap ipod,
    something about penny auctions. Took me about an hour to convince her it was a scam.

    SO, yep, I do believe there are people stupid enough to click on those links..

    The problem with the world is stupid people
    I’m not advocating capital punishment for stupid people
    I’m just suggesting we remove all the warning labels
    and let the problem solve itself.

    Report Post » randy  
  • aggiebrewer
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 9:35am

    Apple, Google and GE….the centers of evil in the free market….

    Report Post »  
    • Berbel73
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 6:25pm

      I thought it was Haliburton, Exxon Mobile, and Microsoft? I just can’t keep up with who is an evil corporation and who is a good.

      Report Post »  
  • aggiebrewer
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 9:31am

    Troll

    Report Post »  
  • TH30PH1LUS
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 9:29am

    Apple’s alcoholic employees keep leaving their priceless prototypes in bars, and suddenly they’re worried about illegal immigration?

    Grasping for leverage – can you smell the desperation?

    Please get control of your company.

    Report Post » TH30PH1LUS  
  • TxSon
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 9:21am

    Is anyone really stupid enough to click on your link? I hope not.

    Report Post » TxSon  
  • Redistributor
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 9:20am

    This is all a marketing ploy

    Report Post »  
  • Cat
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 9:17am

    Silly Fools Pondering Delusion
    Stupidity Finally Pooled Dumbness
    Stop Friend Pulling Derringer
    Senator Fields Plays Dirty

    Humm … none of those
    Guess it’s … San Francisco Police Department.

    “Sorry, making spaghetti right now, come back in a few years.”

    Report Post » Cat  
    • hud
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 9:23am

      Rickbob–Good advice and also don’t talk to them, ask Martha Stewart.

      Report Post »  
  • rickbob
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 8:58am

    Never, NEVER, NEVER, let police into your home without a warrant. If you do it’s a consent to search and anything they find can be used against you. I have never been in this situation, but then I know that not every cop is honest. . .

    Report Post » rickbob  
    • RRFlyer
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 9:28am

      But Most cops are honest. There are less bad cops than there are “citizens” that will shoot them in the back.

      Report Post »  
    • kchercmech
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 10:08am

      Thanks to many different legislative actions over the past decade, Police do not need a warrant to search or seize your property. Ever heard of the Patriot Act?

      Apple Cops? Let some idiot break into my home who claims to be an Apple Detective. Sounds like the Special Investigative Branch of Disney Police. BS. This crap could not happen outside of a city that makes the 2nd Amendment illegal.

      Anyone who enters my house has to contend with the Rottweilers. If the get past those dedicated dogs, then they can level up and have to face me or my wife. We are 2nd amendment supporters to say the least. Apple PD? Only in America..

      Report Post »  
    • jb.kibs
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 12:43pm

      i disagree, most cops are not honest. most cops will tell you blatent lies to your face in hopes that you admit guilt. there might be a FEW honest police, but i am willing to bet they have desk jobs and are over 60, you will never see them…

      Report Post »  
  • TomFerrari
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 8:20am

    “UNCLEAR??”

    How “UNCLEAR” can it be?

    “SFPD. Let us in” Kind of sounds like you are claiming to be from the San Francisco Police Department… Either that or they were impersonating the “San Francisco PIZZA DELIVERY”

    Sounds like a case of wanna-be-itis run amok. Throw in some assistance from the actual SFPD, and “MALL SECURITY GONE WILD”
    .
    Way overstepping the corporate bounds, though I am not surprised with the onslaught of lightbulb police and guitar-bridge police and the like.
    .
    Show up at the Ferrari home, and you better have a warrant. Try to come in uninvited, or sans-warrant, and you’re likely to meet the business end of an HK45, or “Brownie,” the 12 ga.

    We take FREEDOM and LIBERTY seriously… VERY seriously.

    Seems too many people do not respect others’ rights, and are ready to trample upon them at any moment to serve their own agenda/motives.

    From EVERY mountainside, LET FREEDOM RING!!!
    .
    .
    .
    This also raises another question – was the SFPD complicit in aiding the Cupertino Mall-Cops to impersonate Police Officers? (Ala, “Mr. Jobs, we can’t go in without a warrant, but we can announce our presence and you can barge in as long as they don’t try to stop you.”) Entirely supposition on my part, but, I’m just asking the question – SOMEBODY HAS TO!!! We all know the media doesn’t!!!
    .
    .
    .

    Report Post » TomFerrari  
    • mecanic
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 1:23pm

      amen, not enough people take our freedom seriously. time to stand up for our country and our FREEDOM.

      Report Post » mecanic  
  • Jenny Lind
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 8:13am

    People need to get over themselves, if he was dumb enough to let them in without checking, it’s on him. The police were involved, if he had the darn thing he’d be in jail, so in my opinion, he was an honest man and proved it, all’s well that ends well.

    Report Post »  
    • HD Veteran
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 8:43am

      Good insight

      Report Post » HD Veteran  
    • RepubliCorp
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 9:08am

      (he was an honest man and proved it) Why should anyone have to ***prove*** they are honest to the real or the apple police?

      Report Post » RepubliCorp  
    • aggiebrewer
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 9:31am

      Why would he be in jail? Are you saying that the Apple thugs would make a citizen’s arrest? The situation laid out in the story has holes a defense attorney would drive the space shuttle through.

      Report Post »  
    • jb.kibs
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 12:47pm

      innocent until proven guilty.

      Report Post »  
  • RepubliCorp
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 7:29am

    What if this guy found something really important?

    Report Post » RepubliCorp  
  • jhonjhonson1
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 7:09am

    I have the phone, come see me:
    Jhon Spartacus
    Washington DC

    Report Post »  
  • Dustyluv
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 4:51am

    The guy let them in? Not without a warrant would any officer outside of a friend enter my house no matter the reason, especially any kind of search. It’s his own fault. But of course if he is illegal he would not understand the freedoms and protections of the Constitution.

    His S@@thole country does not have a Constitution and ours has one that is not followed…Crap like this is only going to get worse.

    Report Post »  
  • pissedlizard
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 3:59am

    George Bush has it.

    Report Post »  
  • thegr8restoration
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 3:52am

    Give it up that phone is in China.

    Report Post »  
  • fastfacts
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 2:35am

    SEEMS LIKE THE BIGGEST PIECE OF EVIDENCE PROVING CRONY CAPITALISM…

    Get in big with officials and then you can do anything even take the law into your own hands. Palin spoke of this in her speech today. http://url2it.com/hhgi . Like her or not, she had very conservative/libertarian things to say and she said them very well. This is why she was such an assett to John McCain, and will be with her endorsement if she doesn’t run.

    Question is IS SARAH PALIN MORE INFLUENTIAL AS A CANDIDATE OR SPOKESPERSON, CAMPAIGNER

    Report Post »  
  • Oglethorpe1983
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 2:19am

    Im not sure which facet of this case bothers me more:

    That Apple has a group of “investigators” with the ability to track (essentially) anyone down, breaking the law in the process, and to threatening them over a piece of technology that may or may not exist.

    Or that, San Francisco, one of the most liberal cities in the nation; a sanctuary city even, would authorize a joint police/corporate raid on a citizen…

    There is a need for more information and facts to emerge in this case… but so far… I dont like what I reading.

    Report Post »  
    • Vechorik
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 6:51am

      That person should have been taught the Constitution in school…..and English.

      Report Post »  
    • THIS GENERATION
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 8:22am

      Not in this country. Most schools, if they teach the U.S. Constitution it’ progressive, not the original. As for English, well we know how well English is taught don’t we. In fact most if not all new U.S. citizens know the U.S. Constitution better then most Americans.

      Report Post » THIS GENERATION  
  • LinkedIn G
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 2:03am

    Apple detectives thought they had traced the prototype … No wonder people by throw away phones. Apple knows where you are … and apparently use that information. No need to implant a chip into someone if they have an Iphone. No thanks Apple.

    Report Post » LinkedIn G  
    • loriann12
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 7:43am

      Oh, yea, Apple knows where you are. My husband works for at&t. We have both our phone accounts as an add on to his account, because it’s cheaper that way. With taxes it’s about $15 so we pay his brother $20 each. My husband found an IPhone, damaged screen. He fixed it and kept it after resetting it to factory presets. He had it about 2 months, when at&t started charging for the most expensive data package they have. He never even used the internet, because he didn’t know he had the package. But they knew he had the phone. My brother had to call and explain all that. They said, you have an Iphone, you need the data package. Basically bullied us into getting one, so we got the cheapest one.

      Report Post »  
  • KangarooJack
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 1:34am

    Wait Wait…hold the phone, stop the bus!!!

    Cops/ no cops/ apparently got the green light-two clicks- then APPLE EMPLOYEES ENTERED HIS HOME?????

    Gee, did he get videotape? In his own home? On his own property? Is it legal to videotape a cop on your own property while Apple Computer People enter your home???? Stay tuned for another exciting episode of SOAP

    Report Post » KangarooJack  
  • HOn3yB33
    Posted on September 4, 2011 at 1:33am

    Is this an advertising ploy on Apple’s part? Surely there are not two incidents involving their iphones.
    Pull their bar priviledges for all Apple employees.

    Report Post »  
    • Dougral Supports Israel
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 4:22am

      It does seem too incredible to be true. This same thing happened with the last Iphone and now they let it happen again?

      Report Post »  
    • Ballot_Box_Revolution
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 4:35am

      yeah but is this the type of action that will sell your products?? everyone already knows who apple is…name recognition isn’t really needed….

      Report Post » Ballot_Box_Revolution  
    • Vechorik
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 6:52am

      Maybe it’s a publicity stunt by Apple.

      Report Post »  
    • booger71
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 7:37am

      Vechorik
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 6:52am

      Maybe it’s a publicity stunt by Apple.”
      —————————————————-
      My thoughts too.

      Report Post » booger71  
    • LOLReally
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 9:36am

      They could have easily put in a software only self destruct to wipe the chips. OR at least a homing signal that works if the battery was removed. With your phone off but the battery in the fed can and does turn them into little spy bugs, listing to everything within range of it’s super sensitive microphone. so I am inclined to agree this is all staged.

      Report Post »  
    • jb.kibs
      Posted on September 4, 2011 at 12:45pm

      this has to be a Propaganda stunt.

      Report Post »  
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