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A new iPhone app lets consumers identify the source of produce

Four San Francisco police officers aided two private Apple investigators in tracking down a missing iPhone prototype last month, San Francisco Police said Friday.

But in what was no doubt an attempt to keep a lid on the story, Apple refused to make an official report after they couldn’t find the phone at the Bernal Heights residence, police said.

On Wednesday, CNET reported that an Apple engineer left what is believed to be the next generation iPhone 5 at Cava 22, a tequila bar in the Mission, in late July, marking the second time in two years that a next generation iPhone has been lost by an Apple engineer at a bar.

The story took several bizarre turns after CNET reported that Apple, with the help of SFPD, had been scrambling to find the missing phone without success. According to CNET, Apple had tracked the phone to the Bernal Heights home using GPS.

The SF Weekly interviewed a police spokesman Thursday who said the department knew nothing of the missing phone, leading to speculation that Apple’s private security had been impersonating San Francisco police officers.

Sergio Calderon, 22, told the SF Weekly that six officers with badges showed up at his house to search for the missing phone and even threatened his family with deportation, though they are all citizens. "One of the officers is like, 'Is everyone in this house an American citizen?' They said we were all going to get into trouble.'"

Calderon also told the Weekly that one of the investigators offered him $300 to return the phone. He denied ever having the phone.

Lt. Troy Dangerfield said in Friday’s press release that while officers went with the Apple private investigators to the home, they didn’t go inside.

“The two Apple employees met with the resident and then went into the house to look for the lost item,” Dangerfield said. “The Apple employees did not find the lost item and left the house.”

Jose Balle, manager of Cave 22, said that no law enforcement or Apple representatives have contacted the bar and restaurant. He said that he remembered receiving two phone calls about a lost iPhone in July, but threw away the caller's contact information a few days later.

Apple did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

At the same time that the iPhone 5 saga is playing out in San Francisco, a similar case involving a missing iPhone 4 prototype has finally reached the courts in Redwood City. Two men -- Brian Hogan and Robert Sage Wallower -- who found the prototype in a Redwood City bar last year pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to misdemeanor theft charges for allegedly selling it to Gizmodo, a tech blog, for $5,000.

Jeff Bornstein, Hogan’s lawyer, suggested that Apple “needs to do a better job of training its engineers if they’re going to be taking their iPhones out drinking.”

“Clearly tequila and high-tech prototypes don’t mix,” said Bornstein, a partner at the law firm K&L Gates.

Although a trial is scheduled in November, Bornstein said he’s working with the San Mateo District Attorney to resolve the case.

Tess Townsend contributed to this report.