A "desperate" Alameda, Calif., man broke into a Palo Alto home and, while helping himself to an iMac, a wallet, and a $33,000 necklace, discovered that he was robbing the family of the late Steve Jobs. Not that that stopped him. The home was under renovation and empty when Kariem McFarlin, 35, climbed construction scaffolding in order the jump a fence. From there, he made his way into the garage and found a key to the house. (Though the burglary occurred the night of July 17 - 18, it was just disclosed this week.) Also among the items stolen: a Mac Mini, three iPads, two iPhones and an Apple TV. The wallet belonged to Jobs and contained his driver's license, a Visa credit card, an Apple corporate card, a titanium American Express Black card, and a dollar bill. McFarlin carted everything away in luggage (also taken from the house), which he threw over the fence. To soften their landing, he took cushions from the patio. Police identified McFarlin -- who's confessed to the robbery -- when he used some of the stolen devices to access his iTunes account, which allowed Apple to trace his IP address. He's being held in lieu of $500,000 bail, and has written an apology to Jobs's widow, Laurene Powell Jobs. A former defensive back for San Jose State, McFarlin never seemed like a thief to at least one childhood friend. "I'd call him a nerd in high school," Joe Tenorio told the Mercury News. "He didn't hang out with the cliques that were robbing people."
Steve Jobs' House Robbed; Apple Gadgets Snag the Thief
A "desperate" Alameda, Calif., man broke into a Palo Alto home and, while helping himself to an iMac, a wallet, and a $33,000 necklace, discovered that he was robbing the family of the late Steve Jobs. Not that that stopped him. The home was under renovation and empty when Kariem McFarlin, 35, climbed construction scaffolding in order the jump a fence. From there, he made his way into the garage and found a key to the house. (Though the burglary occurred the night of July 17 - 18, it was just disclosed this week.) Also among the items stolen: a Mac Mini, three iPads, two iPhones and an Apple TV. The wallet belonged to Jobs and contained his driver's license, a Visa credit card, an Apple corporate card, a titanium American Express Black card, and a dollar bill. McFarlin carted everything away in luggage (also taken from the house), which he threw over the fence. To soften their landing, he took cushions from the patio. Police identified McFarlin -- who's confessed to the robbery -- when he used some of the stolen devices to access his iTunes account, which allowed Apple to trace his IP address. He's being held in lieu of $500,000 bail, and has written an apology to Jobs's widow, Laurene Powell Jobs. A former defensive back for San Jose State, McFarlin never seemed like a thief to at least one childhood friend. "I'd call him a nerd in high school," Joe Tenorio told the Mercury News. "He didn't hang out with the cliques that were robbing people."
