San Francisco Police Wants CCTV Footage for Lost iPhone Investigation

By

Cava 22 in San Francisco. Image courtesy of CNET.

San Francisco Police have requested surveillance footage from the bar in which an fifth-generation iPhone prototype was reportedly lost by an Apple employee back in July. The footage won’t be used in the iPhone investigation, however, but rather an internal probe into how the police assisted Apple’s search for the device.

The SFPD want to see CCTV footage from the Cava 22 bar in San Francisco’s Mission District from July 21 and July 22 — the days preceding the handset’s loss, according to a CNET report. A spokesman for the SFPD says that because Apple did not file a police report for the missing device, an internal review is under way to try and establish how the police assisted Apple’s search:

Lt. Troy Dangerfield, a spokesman for SFPD, said he wasn’t aware that investigators had gone to the bar or were looking for the videos. But he said that since Apple had not filed a police report, he was sure that there was no criminal investigation connected to the missing device. “In order for there to be a crime, you need a victim,” Dangerfield said. He concluded that the request by police for the surveillance footage was likely part of the internal review launched this month by department officials into how police assisted Apple in a search of a home on July 24.

According to the SFPD, officers did assist Apple, but the search of the home, car, and computer belonging to Sergio Calderon — who was believed to have taken the device — was done exclusively by Apple employees.

There are clearly concerns into how the investigation into the missing iPhone prototype was undertaken and it seems the SFPD wants answers. As for that missing iPhone prototype, we should have a lot more information on that on October 4.

[via 9to5 Mac]

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.