A few days ago we wrote about an alleged iPhone 5 prototype being left at a San Francisco bar, and we told the same jokes about it that you did. Original reports indicated that the San Francisco police department was working with Apple to track down the missing device, and it seemed to many that deja vu had struck. 

Well, not so fast. The San Francisco Police Department has no record of any investigation for the allegedly missing prototype.

Which makes things awkward for Sergio Calderón, who told SF Weekly that six people, flashing badges and claiming to be SFPD, stopped at his home and began asking questions about the missing iPhone 5. Calderón gave consent for the six people to search his home, his car and his computer. According to the report, the investigators even questioned Calderón and his family's immigration status.

Now Calderón has no idea who was in his home grilling him and rifling through his stuff, as it appears now that none of the six "policemen" were actual police officers, and at least one of the investigators was an Apple employee.

SFPD is not laughing about the situation, either. Police spokesman Lt. Troy Dangerfield said, "This is something that's going to need to be investigated now. If this guy is saying that the people said they were SFPD, that's a big deal." The police are waiting to hear from Calderón, and will open an investigation only if he chooses to speak with them directly and share information about the people who allegedly came to his house. 

If Calderón's story is true, then either Apple security personnel lied about being cops, which is a criminal act punishable of up to a year in jail, or the SFPD was working in stealth with Apple and left the required report detailing an extensive search of a person's home, car, and computer off the books.

Either way, Calderón's account is rather chilling. "They threatened me," he said in an interview with the publication. According to Calderón, six people showed up at his house around 6 p.m. wearing some sort of badges. Calderón alleges that the police had said, plainly, "Hey, Sergio, we're from the San Francisco Police Department," and then asked about his whereabouts over the weekend, and then claimed they traced a lost iPhone to his home using GPS.

After the investigation, one of the men gave Calderón his cell phone number, in case he had any further questions or information. SF Weekly called the number and, according to their report, the phone was answered by Anthony Colon, who confirmed he is a current employee of Apple, but would not comment further. Apparently Colon was a former San Jose police sergeant, and is now employed as a "senior investigator" at Apple.

Calderón seems determined to figure out exactly what happened. "Who did I let in?" he asked SF Weekly. "Who was harassing me?"

Update: Gizmodo is reporting that the San Francisco PD has changed its story, and now admits to having "three or four" officers on the scene. These officers identified themselves at the door and showed their badges, and were accompanied by two Apple employees. None of the police officers entered Calderón's home. Instead, the two Apple employees -- who did not identify themselves as private citizens -- conducted a search inside the house. Calderón told the SF Weekly, "When they came to my house, they said they were SFPD. I thought they were SFPD. That's why I let them in." He further stated he would not have allowed the search if he had known the two people were not actually police officers. It is unclear at this time why no police report of the incident was originally filed.

Via SF Weekly

Adrian covers daily news as well as the weekly Law & Apple column for MacLife.com. You can follow him on Twitter, if you want to.