Lost iPhone 5 saga: SF police say they assisted Apple on investigation

The San Francisco Police Department said Saturday that it assisted Apple investigators in their search for a missing iPhone 5 prototype.

On Friday, it appeared that Apple investigators conducted a search without police and may have impersonated law enforcement officers. SF Weekly reported that the SFPD had no record of the Apple lost iPhone. CNET reported that the iPhone prototype was missing earlier this week.

There's a reason for the lack of recordkeeping: Apple didn't want to make an official report. If Apple filed a report it would be the equivalent of publicly acknowledging it lost a prototype phone.

The SFPD said in a statement:

After speaking with Apple representatives, we were given information which helped us determine what occurred. It was discovered that Apple employees called Mission Police station directly, wanting assistance in tracking down a lost item. Apple had tracked the lost item to a house located in the 500 block of Anderson Street. Because the address was in the Ingleside Police district Apple employees were referred to Officers in the Ingleside district. Four SFPD Officers accompanied Apple employees to the Anderson street home. The two Apple employees met with the resident and then went into the house to look for the lost item. The Apple employees did not find the lost item and left the house.

The Apple employees did not want to make an official report of the lost item.