Once the burglar, Kariem McFarlin, was apprehended by the authorities, the stolen merchandise was tracked down and Mr. Kahn, previously unaware of the iPad’s origins, gave the device to the police. “It would be like getting a football from Joe Montana that was stolen out of his house,” Mr. Kahn said. “It’s bizarre; it’s really bizarre.”
Mr. Kahn claims he was told that the iPad was an old model that Mr. McFarlin had just replaced with a newer one. “I didn’t notice anything special or anything like that. It was silver; it looked normal. I was basically using it like an iPod,” Mr. Kahn said of the situation.
Mr. Kahn, who twice ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Alameda, CA, first met Mr. McFarlin over ten years ago when Mr. Kahn was his high school basketball coach. The two have stayed in touch since then. “He’s a nice guy who made a horrible, horrible decision,” Mr. Kahn said of Mr. McFarlin. “I wish I could ask him: ‘What were you thinking?’ Before the public sees him as this horrible monster, I’d like to hopefully think we can somehow get across that he just made the worst mistake of his life.”
Mr. McFarlin, currently in jail with a $500,000 bail amount, is due in court on Monday.