Edible Apple

You know, I figured I stood a better chance of getting hit by lightning twice than an Apple employee losing yet another iPhone prototype at a bar.

Yet, the unthinkable has happened according to an exclusive report from CNET.

The story goes that an Apple employee recently lost/misplaced an iPhone prototype (we assume the iPhone 5) at a Mexican restaurant and bar in San Francisco called Cava 22.

A day or two after the phone was lost at San Francisco’s Cava 22, which describes itself as a “tequila lounge” that also serves lime-marinated shrimp ceviche, Apple representatives contacted San Francisco police, saying the device was priceless and the company was desperate to secure its safe return, the source said. Still unclear are details about the device, what version of the iOS operating system it was running, and what it looks like.

Though Apple didn’t file a Police report, Apple investigators traced the phone’s location to a single-family home in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco.

Together with the San Francisco police, this Motley Crue of sorts visited said house and spoke to a man in his 20’s who admitted to being at Cava 22 on the night when the iPhone was lost. This man, however, denied knowing anything about the missing iPhone and allowed investigators to search his house. Nothing incriminating or unusual was found.

“Before leaving the house,” the report states, “the Apple employees offered the man money for the phone no questions asked, the source said, adding that the man continued to deny he had knowledge of the phone.”

Apple reportedly didn’t file an official police report regarding the lost/missing iPhone.

Assuming that the iPhone was, in fact, stolen from Cava 22, we don’t expect to see anything come of it. Apple’s legal wranglings with Gizmodo as it pertains to the iPhone 4 show that the company isn’t reluctant to take anyone to court over missing iOS devices. Not only that, but Apple’s legal battle with Gizmodo may prove to be a deterrent to any tech site contemplating acquiring what Apple considers to be stolen merchandise.

Under a California law dating back to 1872, any person who finds lost property and knows who the owner is likely to be–but “appropriates such property to his own use”–is guilty of theft. In addition, a second state law says any person who knowingly receives property that has been obtained illegally can be imprisoned for up to one year.

Last year, of course, Gizmodo scored the tech scoop of the century when they purchased a lost iPhone 4 prototype that had inadvertently been left at a bar for $10,000.

via CNET