August 15, 2012

2 min read

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Police: Burglar Nabbed After Turning On Steve Jobs' Stolen Macs

Whoever broke into the home of the late Steve Jobs is probably now wishing that a different house had been the target

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Whoever broke into the home of the late Steve Jobs is probably now wishing that a different house had been the target.

The Palo Alto, Calif., home was robbed on July 17 of more than $60,000 in computers and other items, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office. Kariem McFarlin, a 35-year-old man, was arrested and charged with the crime.

And apparently it wasn't hard for police to catch him.

After some of the stolen computers were plugged in, the PCs communicated with Apple servers to perform needed upgrades, according to The Daily. That alerted Apple security people and Palo Alto police, who then traced the computers.

After his arrest, police said that McFarlin led them to a storage locker, where they found Jobs' wallet, some credit cards, and a letter. McFarlin apparently acknowledged that he didn't know it was Jobs' house until he actually read the letter, The Daily said.

McFarlin has reportedly confessed to the crime and said he robbed the home because he was in "dire straits" and living out of his car. McFarlin apparently said he wants to send a letter of apology to Jobs' family.

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Undergoing a renovation, the house has been temporarily unoccupied and surrounded by a construction barrier.

"The house was under renovation," Scott Tsui, Santa Clara County supervising deputy district attorney, told CNET News yesterday, "so you know how that can be. I didn't see the house myself, but I'm not sure if the conditions of the perimeter were as secure as they would have been with a regular house. I think that may have given the defendant an opportunity to break in."

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