Crime & Safety

Two Men Plead Not Guilty in iPhone 4 Leak Case

A pretrial conference was set for Oct. 11.

Two men suspected of selling an iPhone 4 prototype that was lost
last year in a Redwood City bar pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges in San Mateo County Superior Court this morning.

Brian John Hogan, 22, and Sage Robert Wallower, 28, are suspected
of selling the leaked phone to a techonology blog, Gawker Media's Gizmodo, after it was found at the restaurant on March 18, 2010.

The men were each charged with one count of misappropriation of
lost property after they allegedly arranged to sell the device for $5,000 to the blog, which then disassembled it and posted details about the prototype on its website.

Find out what's happening in Redwood City-Woodsidewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Karen Guidotti said the two men did not appear in court this morning but that Hogan's attorney, Jeffrey
Bornstein, and Wallower's attorney, Elizabeth Grossman, entered not-guilty pleas on their clients' behalf.

At this morning's court hearing, a pretrial conference was scheduled for Oct. 11 and a trial date was set for Nov. 28, Guidotti said.

Find out what's happening in Redwood City-Woodsidewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

No charges were filed against Gizmodo employees.

News reports surfaced Wednesday that an iPhone 5 prototype was recently lost by an Apple employee at a San Francisco bar.

According to a CNET report, the phone was lost in late July at Cava 22, a restaurant and bar in San Francisco's Mission District. The
article goes on to say that San Francisco police and Apple employees visited a home in Bernal Heights where the phone had apparently been traced.

Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said the company is declining to
comment on the matter.

San Francisco police spokesman Albie Esparza said he has not been able to find a record of a police report filed by the company for its loss.

Esparza said this morning that police were awaiting a response from

The restaurant's manager did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

--Bay City News


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.